AWAY DAYS

(A Trip to Shakespeare Country)

When the draw was made I was looking forward to a trip to Sutton Coldfield as I had never been there before and I had been to Hednesford on several occasions. To end up at Stratford was a bonus. New ground (number 136) lovely town and a game on paper we should win.

We set off in plenty of time and had an extra passenger in Geoff Wilde who on the route from Ainsdale to The Fleece in Penwortham pointed out a number of houses that ex Southport players had lived or still live in. He really does have a remarkable memory!

We arrived at the ground at 12.45 and my first reaction was I hope it stays dry as there was very little cover.

The blokes in the gate allowed me in to take some photos and we received a very warm welcome. They told us how Southport Police had told them that we were taking two coaches and two minibuses….Hello! I advised them this was highly unlikely and I was correct, just one minibus, I wondered why there were a few police in attendance at the ground.

We wandered off into the town to have lunch, have the customary Shakespeare House photos taken and have a quick walk around arriving back at the ground in plenty of time for kick off. £5 to enter with £1 for the programme which was ok and virtually free of adverts.

At kick off it was dry but 20 minutes into the game the heavens opened and we got a soaking most of us moved to the one bit of cover that was the main stand but it got fairly crowded and the view was not the best.

Luckily by half time the rain abated and we could watch the second half behind the goal and stay fairly dry.

The 3-0 win wasn’t a true reflection of our dominance although Stratford should really have gone one up early on which could have lead to a totally different game.

The locals were really friendly and I think a little bemused by some of our fans antics, they had never seen a tickertape welcome for the players before and thought it was great. It really was a super little place, I understand the food was excellent both in value, quality and quantity, the club officials made everyone feel comfortable wished us well in the next round thanked us for coming just like at Rammy. The Police were redundant and as we were walking out they too were laughing along with the large and rather vociferous, happy throng of Southport fans. I wonder if they had set Southport Police up to saying we would be bringing more fans so that they could watch the game! The gate was given as 400 which looked on the high side to me, I estimated 150 Southport fans and there was no way there were more Stratford fans than us.

Just a word on the referee, did anyone notice him, no, he was excellent and was even having a laugh along with the travelling fans near the end of the game.

It was a great day out and set us off pondering on who we could get next, Carlisle, York, Northwich and Leigh? By the time you read this you’ll know!

The Away Days report from Droylsden will appear in Tuesday’s programme v Bradford.