After
3 home games it was time for Nailsea's band of England
fans to finally hit the skies and watch the national side
abroad. James, Rich, Stu and Tony flew from Heathrow,
whilst Ropes, Adam and Ridgey took the scenic route with
a detour via Berlin, thanks to Easyjet. Although this
was only a friendly, against welcoming opposition, there
was still a lot of security in place, and at both ends
we were checked against a huge folder of banned fans.
Smithy took a while to get through, as having "Birthplace:
Chelmsford" on his passport immediately arouses suspicions,
but we had more trouble finding our way out of the vast
Copenhagen airport. The city was taken over by the English
for the week, with St George's flags decorating every
bar and hotel window, and it didnt take us long to find
a bar to watch the under 21 game. Better still we'd manage
to arrive during happy hour, and so avoid the normal prices
of £4.50 a pint. Despite being called "crazy"
by the waitress we ordered a pitcher each to take full
advantage.
We
had noticed already the high percentage of chavs amongst
our fellow English, and decided to leave the main area
in search of a little more authentic Danish culture and
do our best to avoid people who most likely also had "Birthplace:
Chelmsford" on their passports. The beer was cheaper
and the reception still friendly, although we did have
to explain to a few locals why there were so many English
in their city. The TV news helped s in that respect, showing
footage of large numbers of England fans drinking, along
with large numbers of armed police staring, clearly our
presence was big news! A tour of local bars ended in the
elusive Envy club, which we had been advised was the best
place but no-one could find. One local complained that
all the English were just coming to get drunk and not
appreciating the city, an accusation which was hard to
defend as the effects of the pitchers was kicking in.
We
did attempt some sightseeing on the day of the game, and
where better than the Erotica Museum, where we observed
several odd sculptures, and videos which no horse-lover
would like to see again. We also walked around the parliament
building, but our attempts to see the famous Mermaid statue
were thwarted by the controversial claim it was too far
away. It was then time to head to the official pre-match
party in Rosie McGee's, where videos of our great triumphs
against Germany, Holland, and the USA were shown, whilst
the Danish DJ tried to get everyone singing England songs,
despite not knowing them himself, and just succeeding
in confusing everyone. Out on the streets the England
fans were getting rowdier, playing football in the fountains
as the police looked on. The train to the stadium was
of course packed with fans, the English contingent entertaining
their hosts with a rendition of "10 German Bombers".
At the stadium we were greeted by huge queues to get through
security cordons, which coupled with the longer than expected
walk from the station meant many England fans didnt get
in the ground til well after kick off. We did get in in
time, and took our spots behind the goal, whilst Marcus
went to the top of the stand to display the NUFC flag
to the 40,000 crowd. The atmosphere was a little muted,
as the game struggled to produce much entertainment, although
the home fans certainly made plenty of noise when they
were winning. But the least said about the game the better!
After the game we could only manage to stay out for one
more drink before it was time to head in, and get up at
4am for the flight home. |
