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Cumbria to Cardiff: Part 2
Before I left Belfast I was a full-time home supporter. I’d followed the Giants from the beginning. I’d rarely missed a game and could probably recount the games I missed and why. In fact, one celebrated game I missed was when the Belfast Giants took on Team GB. “Sure it was only a mid season friendly” would be the normal reaction. But imagine my horror when I received a voicemail from a good friend at the game. “Paddy, I hope you’re here somewhere…. Terran Sandwith has just scored a goal”. I wasn’t there. Damn.
Being such a regular at home games means that when you move away and no longer fulfil your weekly hockey routine, you start to miss it a great deal. So when the opportunities arise to get home for a game you make the most of them. The Newcastle Vipers journey to the Odyssey Arena a few weeks ago was one such opportunity.
This season I’ve been doing some work with the Vipers and have got to know a lot of their staff and fans in my regular visits to the Metro Radio Arena and Whitley Bay. This has, of course, led to jibes at my loyalty toward the Giants and some folk have, in jest (I hope), needled me that I now have more sympathy toward the Vipers than the Giants. Nothing could be further than the truth of course and this weekend allowed me to travel home and see two teams whose game I knew pretty well. While the opportunity to gain bragging rights over those Vipers fans I knew was too tempting.
The previous week I had stood among a small collection of Giants fans at Whitley Bay, watching on as Kevin Reiter got in the way of every shot the Giants could muster. This weekend was to be a whole other story.
Flight FR6145 from John Lennon to George Best was to depart at 12:10pm, as I rolled up, parked the car, tied my Season 1 Derek Wilkinson game worn shirt round my waste and climbed aboard with RyanAir.
Back in the more regular attendances, a “Hockey Day” could consist of many elements, many of these fell by the wayside after the years, but one such facet remained a constant. Beer. Meeting with the usual suspects for a few pre-game pints in the usual bar at the usual time always starts the “away” trip well.
While the game is a major part of the day, it acts merely as a focal point. It gives common ground for folk to meet, chat and in the case of myself returning for a game, catch up on the latest happenings, gossip and general craic. As well as reminisce of games gone by.
As I settled into familiar surroundings within the arena, back row at Door 17, time is taken to say hi to old friends. It’s 10 years of the Giants now and in that time you gain a great deal of friends, but some you know better than others and its these friends you spend more time with than any other. But before long the officials hit the ice and the real craic begins.
When you’re an away fan you get used to being either a lone voice in the wilderness, or for your shouts, songs or chants to be lost against a wall of a few thousand other voices. However when you get home you’re thankful for the “back-up” as likeminded folk add their voice to yours. Some songs are traditional over the 10 years, some are spur of the moment and some (“Oh Shields of Scotland”, “Hey Big Cookie” for example) are just down right awful, but you still sing them because that’s part of what makes the game.
This turned out to be an almighty thumping for the Vipers, one that brought a smug grin to my face I have to admit, and punctuated by a shorthanded goal from Steve Thornton as he “went all roof-daddy” (as a mate put it) on Reiter.
Trips home also make you more sympathetic to travelling supporters. There was a time I couldn’t have cared less, but having now spent a lot of time as “an away fan”. To see the Vipers take such a hammering, though satisfying, you do have empathy with those who spent money to travel the distance. They book the flights, hotels, tickets with faith in their team, only to see those they follow get trounced. It can’t be, and though experience, it isn’t an easy thing to swallow. But the same away fans will be back. As we meet them in the bar, talk over the game and enjoy a jibe or two.
Hockey is a small close knit family, such a minority sport with a fanatic following,. Yet travel to any rink or arena in the league and there are always fans there ready to welcome you in. Such a thing is unheard of in various levels of other sports. But in hockey its that joint empathy that makes being a travelling fan so easy.
My trip home ended the next day as I returned on that RyanAir flight, Giants shirt around my waist, with a buoyant expectation of the game to come. A Challenge Cup semi final against the Cardiff Devils in their latest abode at Cardiff Bay.
Wednesday night face off means an early exit from the office and onto the M6. Trying to explain to colleagues the reasoning behind your round trip to Cardiff in one night is difficult. It gathers a few looks of “is this guy for real.. Ice Hockey?”. Trying to draw comparisons with, say, travelling for a Champions League fixture proves fruitless. Undeterred, my little Fiesta leaves my office in Manchester and hits the M6 tarmac at 3pm. Face Off is at 7.30pm. Around 200 miles each way. I should have enough time to get there.
I hope.
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| 4th February 2012 19:00 | ||
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| 4th February 2012 19:00 | ||
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| 4th February 2012 19:30 | ||
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| 5th February 2012 17:00 | ||
2-8 |
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| 3rd February 2012 19:30 | ||
2-3 |
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| 1st February 2012 19:15 | ||
1-4 |
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| 29th January 2012 18:30 | ||
2-1 |
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| 29th January 2012 18:00 | ||
1-6 |
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| 29th January 2012 18:00 | ||
3-6 |
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| 29th January 2012 18:00 | ||
| Club | GP | W | L | OL | GF | GA | Pts | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Belfast Giants | 39 | 31 | 8 | 3 | 159 | 80 | 65 |
| 2 | Nottingham Panthers | 39 | 29 | 10 | 2 | 176 | 85 | 60 |
| 3 | Sheffield Steelers | 33 | 29 | 4 | 0 | 128 | 73 | 58 |
| 4 | Coventry Blaze | 39 | 24 | 15 | 1 | 147 | 112 | 49 |
| 5 | Cardiff Devils | 37 | 20 | 17 | 9 | 119 | 103 | 49 |
| 6 | Braehead Clan | 38 | 21 | 17 | 2 | 141 | 123 | 44 |
| 7 | Hull Stingrays | 40 | 11 | 29 | 4 | 107 | 162 | 26 |
| 8 | Edinburgh Capitals | 38 | 11 | 27 | 3 | 89 | 170 | 25 |
| 9 | Fife Flyers | 37 | 7 | 30 | 5 | 76 | 166 | 19 |
| 10 | Dundee Stars | 38 | 6 | 32 | 5 | 87 | 155 | 17 |
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| 4th February 2012 18:00 | ||
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| 4th February 2012 18:30 | ||
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| 4th February 2012 18:30 | ||
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| 4th February 2012 19:00 | ||
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| 4th February 2012 19:30 | ||
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| 5th February 2012 17:30 | ||
5-4 |
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| 29th January 2012 18:00 | ||
3-2 |
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| 29th January 2012 17:30 | ||
4-2 |
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| 29th January 2012 17:30 | ||
5-4 |
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| 29th January 2012 17:30 | ||
1-5 |
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| 28th January 2012 19:00 | ||
5-2 |
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| 28th January 2012 18:30 | ||
| Club | GP | W | L | OL | GF | GA | Pts | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Guildford Flames | 36 | 24 | 12 | 3 | 163 | 105 | 51 |
| 2 | Slough Jets | 35 | 23 | 12 | 1 | 160 | 112 | 47 |
| 3 | Manchester Phoenix | 37 | 22 | 15 | 3 | 136 | 119 | 47 |
| 4 | Sheffield Steeldogs | 37 | 21 | 16 | 4 | 116 | 101 | 46 |
| 5 | Milton Keynes Lightning | 35 | 22 | 13 | 1 | 113 | 92 | 45 |
| 6 | Basingstoke Bison | 36 | 20 | 16 | 2 | 130 | 119 | 42 |
| 7 | Swindon Wildcats | 37 | 15 | 22 | 5 | 119 | 123 | 35 |
| 8 | Bracknell Bees | 36 | 12 | 24 | 8 | 106 | 142 | 32 |
| 9 | Peterborough Phantoms | 36 | 13 | 23 | 2 | 115 | 155 | 28 |
| 10 | Telford Tigers | 37 | 9 | 28 | 2 | 100 | 190 | 20 |
- Adam Walker
- Alex Birch
- Andy Pierce
- Chris Gent
- Christopher Beal
- Craig Simpson
- Dave Simms
- Elliott Stanley
- Gareth Chalmers
- James Broughton
- James Gordon
- Katy Madgwick
- Luke Catterson
- Mark Briggs
- Mark Duell
- Mat Young
- Patrick Smyth
- Promotion
- Russ Morrell
- Seanna Murdock
- Stephen Dowson
- Stewart Roberts
- Tom Forster
- Vicki Smart
- William Lyon
