Aldershut Out!

Like most fans, the first game of the season is always one I look forward to. You never quite know what's going to happen so it always poses the questions like can we improve on last season, can we get off to a great start, or will we finish 8th again? Well, this season was a little different. Darlington came out of administration the day before the start of the season, almost all of the previous season's squad has gone, and Darlo has a new management team and chairman. This seasons though, is a great deal different. We have a whole new set of players that I haven't really seen play so it filled this fixture with plenty of intregue for me.

I haven't been to Aldershot before but I always enjoy seeing some of the smaller, more character filled stadiums when I get the chance, so the opening day fixture offered me a great opportunity to visit The Recreation Ground and also to do the match report for this website, but things didn't exactly work out as planned.
 
I was picked up from home at 7:45am, and after collecting another couple of friends from around Darlington, we had a car full and managed to leave Darlington by 8am, the sat nav was showing the jouney time would take around 4 hours 30 minutes which would get us there nicely for 12:30.
 
A quick stop in the services mid-way down the motorway following a night out on Friday was a much welcomed stop, and considering we'd made up a bit of time in the first leg of the jouney we were still on course for our 12:30 arrival, that was until we hit the M25.
 
Having crawled in traffic for a good 45 minutes it was now eating into our pre match drinking time, but it wasn't until we heard on the radio about major blockages on the M4 that we started hatching a plan for an alternate route, so we got off the motorway at the first possible point and worked it out from there.
 
The detour took us slightly out of the way but the sat nav still had our estimate time of arrival as getting there well in time for kick off, and we were flying. It looked like we'd manage to work it out, but then things got worse, a whole lot worse.
 
When we joined back onto a major road again, the traffic stopped, but this time there was no way off this road and the lane going in the opposite direction was closed for surface relaying, but fortunately for us the turn off we needed was at a roundabout just 1 mile down the road. We were 30 miles from aldershot it was 2pm, but once we get past this traffic it shouldn't be a problem.
 
We waited and crept a few feet, then waited again, and crept again and everyone in the car started to worry if we'd get actually get there on time for kick-off. It was 2:20pm with an estimate arrival of 2:48pm which is really cutting it fine. The new 'livematch' feature on the uncovered site depends on one of us being at the game and updating things as soon as they happen such as kick off and goals which will hopefully give everyone the score much quicker than anyone else on the internet. The problem was it now looked like I wasn't going to be there for kick off so I texted my friend who had arrived to get him to let me know exactly when kick off was - if I didn't manage to get to the game on time I could update the site via the software we'd written as quickly as I could on my phone.
 
More time passed and we defintely weren't going to get to the game on time now, we were still creeping foot by foot, then stopping again, people in the car were getting frustrated, and the heat was getting unbearable. A text came through - 'it's kicked off' followed by a few expletives from the other travellers in the car upon hearing this news. It was at this point that I got in touch with Mike (creator of the 'livematch' feature), and told him he'll have to update it himself from home - not quite the cutting edge we were hoping for from this application, (but I've read that Mike did a good job where he could, so well done there Mike).
 
The feeling in the car now was 'We've got to get there as soon as we can to avoid missing too much', our ETA is now 3:30pm and we're still 30 miles from Aldershot. Another text, '1-0 to aldershot!', 'great, is this trip an omen for the season?', said one of the lads. We eventualy creep up onto the roundabout that leads onto the part of the m4 we need to be on just as another text comes in 'it's two nil, a mistake by Knight!'. We'd now travelled the mile to the roundabout, and it had taken an extraordinary 1 hour and 15 minutes. As we went around the roundabout the road below was clear, no traffic at all, it was a large roundabout and a lots of vehicles were coming off the motorway to evidentaly take the road that was closed, but causing gridlock by changing their minds and trying to get back the other way, 'hopefully we'll make the second half'.
 
We finally got off the roundabout and on to a clear stretch of motorway, as a text came in 'it's half time', 'excellent, we're flying and we should get there just in time for the second half'
 
Another text comes in as the stadium comes into view over the housing estate to the right, -'the second half has kicked off','Quick, lets get parked up and get into the ground'. We find a parking spot right near the pub at the entrance to the pathway that leads down to the away gate. Another text - 'it's 3-0', but as far as we're concerened it's 0-0 and we'll hopefully get to see Darlo win the remainder of the game. A local who is sat outside the pub comments, upon seeing the Darlington shirts we were wearing 'Is it that bad that you've come out already?', rushing past we say 'No, we're just going in!'.

We've come all of this way almost a whopping 8 hours on the road, and we're finally here, hoping that we can cheer on our beloved darlo to a dramatic comeback, but at the very least we'll be able to see the remaining 40 minutes of the match that we've travelled 272 miles to see.
 
As we head down towards the gate at the away end we see two people walking out past us, could it really be that bad that with 40 minutes to go they are leaving?, especially as we're just arriving.
 
We approach the gate, 'traffic was a nightmare!, can you let us in please?', but from behind the gate a voice says 'no, sorry'. I smile with bemusement, 'we set off at 8 o'clock this morning, all the way from Darlington and got stuck in traffic on the way, there's 4 of us here, surely you can let us in?'. Looking through the small gap in the gate, I could see him talking to another steward, 'Well?' I asked, no answer, 'Can we speak to the head steward please? We've travelled all day to see this game, there's only 35 minutes left, surely you can let us in?', 'Just a minute' came the voice from behind the gate. 'Great, it looks like they're finally letting us in' said one of the lads I was travelling with.

From where we were stood we could see the backside of the side stand, and could also see right through the corner and into the stand where the Darlington fans were gathered, as well as a few glimpses of parts of the pitch, 'we'll be in there soon' we said amongst ourselves just as a crackle came over the stewards walkie talkie. 'Sorry, lads we can't let you in', said the steward behind the gate, 'come on, what harm could it do? There's 4 of us here!' I said, 'heath and safety!, we can't let you in' he said bluntly back to us. 'HEALTH AND SAFETY? There's 4 of us!' stated one of my friends, just as the attendance figure of 2866 was read over the PA System, a much smaller crowd than Aldershot could have been expecting for an opening day fixture.
 
I'm a very tolerant person, but I could feel my blood begin to boil, pleading again for common sense, for them to let us in for the last 30 minutes, as the rumble of the crowd rose and dropped, mixed with whistles and cheers, as the match, no, our match was taking place behind locked gates.

I peered through the gap in the gate 'Come on mate!' I said to the steward, but he said nothing else and stood there with a smug grin on his face, feeling that he'd done his job perfectly, and earned his wage well today.

A few other words to the jobsworth stewards were met with a deathly silence, so we had no other choice but to turn back and headed for the pub we'd passed on the way in, we hadn't had any food or drink for many hours now and it seemed the sensible thing to do.

Arriving at the pub, we were asked 'Was it that bad that you were out already?' from someone who had assumed we'd left early. We explained the situation to the locals, and they were astonished that the club hadn't let us in. They felt so ashamed that their towns club had been so cold and heartless given the journey that we'd endured. A kind gentleman at the bar bought all 4 of us a round of drinks, and couldn't apologise enough, so thanks to him, it was much appreciated.

Still dumbfounded with the story we'd told them, a huge cheer went up in the bar from the locals as Soccer Saturday flashed up on screen that David Dowson had notched one back for Darlington. 'There's one back lads, only two more to go' they said to us.

Full time came and we saw the all the other Darlington fans coming out of the ground and past the pub we were in, we hung around for a while, finished our drinks off, and that was it, the trip to Aldershot was over. Back into the car, back into the bloody car.

By David Aiken (dfc1883)

Comments

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TwoSaints - 9th August 2009 21:31:42

Health and Safety is usually for people who have no common sense, seems to be just the case here!

wylam_rangers - 9th August 2009 22:58:29

Welcome to hospitality in the south

DIRTYDAVE - 10th August 2009 00:50:49

WELL DONE ! remember my dad trying to get in at haft time to save money when a was a kid we got in easy but that was back in the day !

AIDO - 10th August 2009 09:44:14

Tells you everything about how this country is going ... with the emphasis on the word "going", as in "to the dogs" .... Mayhem on the motorways with road works at holiday time especially, traffic congestion in general and the over-the-top rules concerning H&S in all walks of life. Where will it all end? As for common sense? It doesn't exist any more

Lets just hope that your ill fortune is compensated somewhere on your travels later on this season ..

loan_star - 10th August 2009 17:43:40

By the way, we were 3-0 down before we even parked the car! So for them to say that the 3rd goal going in made us more aggressive is complete bollox!!