Now I realise that this blog, coming hot on the heels of my previous one may seem a bit of a contradiction in terms, but I don’t want you all thinking that I’ve gone soft with this new era of sense and sensibility in my life.
Not so.
As a couple of weekends ago proved, there are still more than enough opportunities for me to behave like a drunken eejit and get myself into ridiculous situations, in my seemingly pathological need to embarrass myself, my family and my friends.
Luckily no family members where present on this particular occasion although quite what they’ll make of this one once news of it gets out in my back home town I’m not sure. A town where the men are men and the sheep are nervous….
A few weeks ago I, along with an English friend who for the purpose of this tale I shall call Mark, because…erm….that’s his name, decided to go visit Clair, a friend of mine living in the capital city of our most favourite boring country.
Clair is soon relocating to England, so it seemed as good a reason as any to pay her a visit - the invitation of bed and breakfast, complete with bacon sandwiches and brown sauce just swaying the decision.
Things started off calm enough for me – at one o’clock in the afternoon – as I watched two football matches in Antwerp, the first a heartening win for my other team Glasgow Rangers over their great rivals Celtic, with the second match being a rather less than impressive Liverpool win over newly promoted Sunderland.
Needless to say, as the football ebbed and flowed, so did the beers, ensuring that by the time I arrived at Mark’s place, I was a little the worse for wear, the drive to Brussels not helping me sober up much at all.
(Perhaps if I’d have driven slower it might have helped).
We met up with Clair and took the tram into Brussels town centre to one of those neighbourhoods the name of which escapes me, where we hooked up with another friend of hers, Karen.
The group of four complete, we headed off to a famous Belgian ‘brown café’, the name of which escapes me as well – a big, noisy, open spaced affair with original fixtures and fittings and an impressive selection of Belgian beers to choose from. We all went for my favourite girl - Stella Artois.
The arrangement was to meet another friend of the girls, whose mother was over visiting. The idea was that we would meet for a bite to eat in a Moroccan restaurant, although to be honest, food was not really something that any of us were too keen on and I got the feeling that we perhaps weren’t the most wonderful of dining companions on that occasion.
After the meal, we said our goodbyes because basically, we wanted to go and get pissed, paint the town red and collapse in a taxi back to Clair’s and fall asleep watching the hilarious Peter Kay on video for the umpteenth time.
Upon reflection, I would have to say that it was mission accomplished, with our pub-crawl taking us to several places, one bar sticking out because dancing on the tables was nigh on obligatory, as was the high standard of female revellers.
Then, at some stage, for some inexplicable reason, the wheels came off the wagon, leaving such carnage and wreckage that even thinking about it now brings back some horrifying memories and a nervous shiver down my spine.
One minute we were crawling around Brussels bars on a busy Saturday night, the next, I found myself on stage in a gay night club with a huge spotlight on me, microphone in hand and with a couple of hundred gay guys that I could just make out in the darkness looking up at me as if I had two heads.
As you do.
So what had happened in the brief interlude between dancing on a table in a busy bar full of members of both sexes, to being in the position that I found myself in such a short space of time later?
En route to a bar, the name of which escapes me (I really wasn’t paying attention at all that night, was I?), Clair decided she wanted to say hello to a gay friend of hers, the owner of a gay nightclub. Asking us if we were ok with it, Mark and myself – being men of the world, you understand – replied in the affirmative – of course it would be ok.
“As long as they keep their hands to themselves we’ll be fine – and if it gets too much for us we can start talking rugby, football, beer and women in loud, rough, manly voices” was the advice we gave to ourselves as we walked into the venue.
To say I was shocked is a bit of an understatement.
Kylie Minogue’s angelic voice was blasting out of the sound system and for once I had to agree with her. For I think the sight that I saw as I entered that place was something that “I Can’t Get Out of My Head” either.
All manner of men (except heterosexual of course) danced and writhed to the little Aussie pop pixie’s music. Transvestites mingled with leather clad men, middle-aged with ‘more youthful’ companions, men kissing dancing and groping.
I really didn’t know where to look but made a great scene out of making sure that I looked cool.
Which of course I failed at miserably.
As Clair went off to see her friend, I looked at Mark, whose startled face was I’m sure a perfect reflection of my own, and we decided to get the drinks in. Emergency action was required. “I’ll have a vodka and orange, Mark” thinking that a good, stiff one was just what I needed. Thank God I didn’t speak that out at the time….
Shortly after the drinks arrived, Clair introduced us to the nightclub owner.
And as I type these words now, I realise that this is where the wheels fell off the wagon - right at this precise moment:
“Do you have ‘Mack The Knife’?” I shouted, struggling to be heard over Kylie
(You can see where it’s going readers, can’t you??!)
“What?”
“Do you have ‘Mack The Knife’?” I repeated.
The owner looked at me, seemingly contemplating on whether I was serious or not “No – we don’t have it” he replied, without so much as even a token look for it.
“Seriously – could you have a look for it, please?”
“We don’t have it!”
“That’s a pity – I’d like to sing it.” I explained.
“What?!”
“I’d like to sing it”
Once again, the owner looked at me, seemingly contemplating if I was on the level or taking the piss. It seemed that he trusted me.
“Well, we have a microphone, if you want to sing it without the music - you’re more than welcome to if you want!!”
This was my chance to bail out, pull the plug, abort mission, fold, surrender, give it up, abstain, quit while I was ahead – anything but say…. “Sure – no problem – I’ll give it a go!”
And so it came to pass, that approximately 25 seconds later, Kylie had been shut off mid-song, blokes pulled themselves off……each other!….each other!! - Godammit – where are your minds??!!! and I had walked up onto stage to a deafening silence.
The disco lights were switched off and replaced with a light which I can only assume was a searchlight in a Prisoner of War camp in a previous life, the reflection of it bouncing off the huge glitter ball above my head a thousand times.
Which is approximately the same number of deaths that I experienced during my short time on stage.
With nobody to count me in, no accompanying music to settle myself into any sort of rhythm, and with absolutely no background noise whatsoever to distract me (you really could hear a pin drop), I charged on, trying everything in my repertoire to get a reaction from the crowd
The silence was total and absolute – apart from Clair and Mark’s giggles which permeated through the darkness from a corner towards the back as they seemed to be having a gay old time (pun intended).
I sang, I danced, I even shouted out “Come on lads, sing along!” but got nothing, nada, niks, for my efforts.
I left the stage a broken man - much to the bemusement of the establishment’s clientele and returned to my friends and my Vodka and Orange - except that it wasn’t there. It turned out that as I was up there dying on stage some bastard had snuck off with my drink – presumably to test it for drugs, based on my performance…
I ask you – what is the world coming to, when you can’t even sing a capella in a gay nightclub in front of a couple of hundred total strangers and not expect your drink to remain where it was left?
The world’s gone mad, I tell ya…
Saturday, September 17, 2005
Friday, September 16, 2005
The Weekend Has Landed!!
For most of us, as the time slowly runs out on another working week, thoughts inevitably start to turn to those upcoming 60-odd hours off from the world that is more commonly known as The Weekend.
Whether it is a quiet, relaxing time spent with friends and family, a romantic break with your loved one, or a non-stop hedonistic, alcohol and drug-filled escape from planet reality, we all start looking forward to that escape from the rigours of work, almost before the dust has settled on the previous weekend.
Perhaps you’re going to use the opportunity to do some shopping, fix some shelves, read a book, climb up a mountain, jump in a lake, I don’t know - but the fact is that The Weekend is a time that should be filled with what you want to do – not what somebody else tells you to do. Of course, those of us with family’s, partners, or other commitments may find yourself with certain compromises to make, but to all intents and purposes The Weekend is a time for relaxing – a recharge of life’s batteries, if you will - in whatever form that may take.
On this occasion, as I consult my social calendar, I see that this weekend has nothing to offer me, save for the no-small-matter of Liverpool v The Scum (otherwise known as Manchester United) to be played out at Sunday lunchtime.
In the past, this kind of vacant whole in my social life, a weekend with absolutely nothing planned, would have filled me with something akin to holy terror. A nervous sweat would have swept over me as I pondered a weekend where I did not have some party or other to go to, some dirty decadence to involve myself with, or at the very least a weekend full of romantic liaisons.
Not so, the ‘new’ me.
For you see folks, after several years of burning the candles at both ends, being the last one standing at a party or the last one to leave the pub - something which is easier said than done, in a country such as Belgium with 24-drinking a very real possibility, I now find that the prospect of having nothing to do this weekend an absolute Godsend and I really cannot wait….for nothing to happen.
So what has brought upon this massive change in my psyche?
Am I getting wiser? Debatable. Am I getting older? Most definitely. Have I stopped partying? No of course not - there’ll always be a bit of an animal in me when it comes down to that – and long may that continue.
I suppose, put quite simply, I have had enough.
Now I realise that most of you don’t know me personally, in spite of the fact that I pour my heart out to you, the readers of this blog, on a (somewhat) regular basis – but take my word for it - for me to make such a bold statement has taken quite an effort. Some would say years of effort (Hello Mum).
It’s like a switch has gone in my head. I no longer need the party lifestyle to be happy - at least not to the extent that I have in the past.
And what about the romantic side of things? I (don’t) hear you ask.
Well, readers – that’s a strange thing as well. My love-life recently has been anything but wonderful for several reasons, none of which I’ll bother you with - but to be absolutely honest, I’m OK with that as well – which is another rather bizarre admission for a guy like myself, who often regarded not having a girlfriend as some sort of affliction.
Like most people my age I suppose I look back on my adult life with many conflicting emotions – pride, shame, happiness, sadness, embarrassment, regret – they’re all there.
It sounds clichéd but I’ve been fortunate enough to experience things that I would never even have dreamed about as a kid and I will always be grateful for the privileged position I have found myself in throughout these years. Perhaps I’m being greedy but I would like for some more of the same please over the next 15 a well.
The point is that the one thing I would say about my life so far is that I’ve enjoyed myself along the way. Certainly the one positive thing at any rate. Failed relationships, wasted career opportunities, stupid business decisions, are all blots on the landscape of my past 15 years but for the most part, I’ve went through life with a smile on my face.
In fact, should I ever get bored of enjoying myself, and end up going to meet my maker, it would certainly be a fitting epitaph. The problem is, however, that I’ve been enjoying myself to such a reckless and impulsive degree on occasion that people close to me have suffered. As have I.
I’ve carried out things on a whim and worried about the consequences later. Fine behaviour for some, especially with youth on their side but I’m 33 years old now and perhaps need to be a little bit more sensible in my approach to things and life in general.
And I suppose that’s what it boils down to really - becoming a bit more sensible. It’s perhaps taken me longer than most to reach this state of “inner-sensibleness” or whatever you’d like to call it, but there is no doubt in my mind that destination sensible is the only way forward.
There was no defining moment in the life of your humble scribe, no single event to make me wake up and smell the coffee, no flash of inspiration to steer me off the path to self-destruction that I was surely running head first along.
But it’s happened and I’m embracing it. Sure of course I want to settle down, maybe have kids some day soon but if that doesn’t happen, I’m not going to worry too much about that either.
Perhaps I’m just bored with Belgium, which would be a bit ironic considering the title of this blog was in itself meant to be ironic. Perhaps a change of scenery would re-awaken the “beast that lies within” but I very much doubt it. The beast is still there, all be it a more controlled, focussed one – one with a bit of will power.
I’ve not completely changed overnight – I don’t think anyone can – it’s just all about prioritising things in your life. For the first time in a few years, I’m enjoying my work – which more than compensates for the quieter social life.
In the past, on a night out, I would have flogged a dead horse, kicked it around a few times just to make sure, and administered mouth to mouth resuscitation to it - anything to keep the party going. Now I really couldn’t give a fiddler’s, flying, fuck.
Anyway, having said all that – enough of the sensible stuff – I certainly don’t want to put anyone on a downer before the weekend starts. In fact, this ‘bloggette’ was supposed to send out a message of positivism, although re-reading the words, I’m not really sure that that’s what it comes across as.
I reckon that I’ve got about 2 and a half hours to go, the sun is shining and I’ve got a hot date this evening with my couch, a glass or two of wine, chilled music and a good book.
I can’t wait.
If anyone wants to get in touch with me – tough – I’ll have the phone switched off.
Of course, come Sunday lunchtime and things will take on a slightly different hue. Let’s hope Liverpool continue their return to the upper echelons of world football with a timely first win over the old enemy since 2001.
Have a good weekend folks!
“The Sensible One”
Whether it is a quiet, relaxing time spent with friends and family, a romantic break with your loved one, or a non-stop hedonistic, alcohol and drug-filled escape from planet reality, we all start looking forward to that escape from the rigours of work, almost before the dust has settled on the previous weekend.
Perhaps you’re going to use the opportunity to do some shopping, fix some shelves, read a book, climb up a mountain, jump in a lake, I don’t know - but the fact is that The Weekend is a time that should be filled with what you want to do – not what somebody else tells you to do. Of course, those of us with family’s, partners, or other commitments may find yourself with certain compromises to make, but to all intents and purposes The Weekend is a time for relaxing – a recharge of life’s batteries, if you will - in whatever form that may take.
On this occasion, as I consult my social calendar, I see that this weekend has nothing to offer me, save for the no-small-matter of Liverpool v The Scum (otherwise known as Manchester United) to be played out at Sunday lunchtime.
In the past, this kind of vacant whole in my social life, a weekend with absolutely nothing planned, would have filled me with something akin to holy terror. A nervous sweat would have swept over me as I pondered a weekend where I did not have some party or other to go to, some dirty decadence to involve myself with, or at the very least a weekend full of romantic liaisons.
Not so, the ‘new’ me.
For you see folks, after several years of burning the candles at both ends, being the last one standing at a party or the last one to leave the pub - something which is easier said than done, in a country such as Belgium with 24-drinking a very real possibility, I now find that the prospect of having nothing to do this weekend an absolute Godsend and I really cannot wait….for nothing to happen.
So what has brought upon this massive change in my psyche?
Am I getting wiser? Debatable. Am I getting older? Most definitely. Have I stopped partying? No of course not - there’ll always be a bit of an animal in me when it comes down to that – and long may that continue.
I suppose, put quite simply, I have had enough.
Now I realise that most of you don’t know me personally, in spite of the fact that I pour my heart out to you, the readers of this blog, on a (somewhat) regular basis – but take my word for it - for me to make such a bold statement has taken quite an effort. Some would say years of effort (Hello Mum).
It’s like a switch has gone in my head. I no longer need the party lifestyle to be happy - at least not to the extent that I have in the past.
And what about the romantic side of things? I (don’t) hear you ask.
Well, readers – that’s a strange thing as well. My love-life recently has been anything but wonderful for several reasons, none of which I’ll bother you with - but to be absolutely honest, I’m OK with that as well – which is another rather bizarre admission for a guy like myself, who often regarded not having a girlfriend as some sort of affliction.
Like most people my age I suppose I look back on my adult life with many conflicting emotions – pride, shame, happiness, sadness, embarrassment, regret – they’re all there.
It sounds clichéd but I’ve been fortunate enough to experience things that I would never even have dreamed about as a kid and I will always be grateful for the privileged position I have found myself in throughout these years. Perhaps I’m being greedy but I would like for some more of the same please over the next 15 a well.
The point is that the one thing I would say about my life so far is that I’ve enjoyed myself along the way. Certainly the one positive thing at any rate. Failed relationships, wasted career opportunities, stupid business decisions, are all blots on the landscape of my past 15 years but for the most part, I’ve went through life with a smile on my face.
In fact, should I ever get bored of enjoying myself, and end up going to meet my maker, it would certainly be a fitting epitaph. The problem is, however, that I’ve been enjoying myself to such a reckless and impulsive degree on occasion that people close to me have suffered. As have I.
I’ve carried out things on a whim and worried about the consequences later. Fine behaviour for some, especially with youth on their side but I’m 33 years old now and perhaps need to be a little bit more sensible in my approach to things and life in general.
And I suppose that’s what it boils down to really - becoming a bit more sensible. It’s perhaps taken me longer than most to reach this state of “inner-sensibleness” or whatever you’d like to call it, but there is no doubt in my mind that destination sensible is the only way forward.
There was no defining moment in the life of your humble scribe, no single event to make me wake up and smell the coffee, no flash of inspiration to steer me off the path to self-destruction that I was surely running head first along.
But it’s happened and I’m embracing it. Sure of course I want to settle down, maybe have kids some day soon but if that doesn’t happen, I’m not going to worry too much about that either.
Perhaps I’m just bored with Belgium, which would be a bit ironic considering the title of this blog was in itself meant to be ironic. Perhaps a change of scenery would re-awaken the “beast that lies within” but I very much doubt it. The beast is still there, all be it a more controlled, focussed one – one with a bit of will power.
I’ve not completely changed overnight – I don’t think anyone can – it’s just all about prioritising things in your life. For the first time in a few years, I’m enjoying my work – which more than compensates for the quieter social life.
In the past, on a night out, I would have flogged a dead horse, kicked it around a few times just to make sure, and administered mouth to mouth resuscitation to it - anything to keep the party going. Now I really couldn’t give a fiddler’s, flying, fuck.
Anyway, having said all that – enough of the sensible stuff – I certainly don’t want to put anyone on a downer before the weekend starts. In fact, this ‘bloggette’ was supposed to send out a message of positivism, although re-reading the words, I’m not really sure that that’s what it comes across as.
I reckon that I’ve got about 2 and a half hours to go, the sun is shining and I’ve got a hot date this evening with my couch, a glass or two of wine, chilled music and a good book.
I can’t wait.
If anyone wants to get in touch with me – tough – I’ll have the phone switched off.
Of course, come Sunday lunchtime and things will take on a slightly different hue. Let’s hope Liverpool continue their return to the upper echelons of world football with a timely first win over the old enemy since 2001.
Have a good weekend folks!
“The Sensible One”
Friday, September 09, 2005
The Cauldron of Hate
[NOTE: For those of you having trouble reading this in email form due to lack of paragraphs, it can be viewed in all its intended splendour at http://www.belgiumisboring.blogspot.com]
Folks,
It’s been a while since I last blogged and instead of going through the usual apologies, I’m gonna cut straight to the chase.
Suffice to say that my head has been up my arse ever since I came back from holiday in France and it has taken a while for the operation to remove it to be a success. Wednesday night, it has to be said, was a big step in the right direction for me.
For two hours, I was able to forget about all my troubles and worries and it was good therapy to see something that made me feel inspired enough to put finger to keypad and share with you what has got to be one of THE greatest moments in my life.
I’m trying to think of moments to compare it with and I’m struggling to do so. For you see, even at the ripe old age of 33, I have not experienced births of children or marriages, nor similar life-altering events of such lofty stature which would normally be reserved for the title of “The Best Day of My Life”
But without doubt Wednesday night has certainly joined a shortlist of few.
So what happened that night that has inspired me so and got me appreciating the birds singing in the trees, the sun shining in the sky, the pretty girls in their summer clothes? (Actually that last one I have always been very appreciative of)
Well I suppose for those of you that know me - and let’s face it – if you’ve been reading my blogs you know me better than most – it will come as no surprise that this latest blog is once again football related.
But before you reach for the ‘delete’ button – hear me out. For those of you that hate my football-related blogs I make absolutely no apologies for this one. For this was a result of epic proportions. Even in comparison, Liverpool’s European Champion’s League winning exploits back in May pales into insignificance.
All I do ask of you is to please bear with me - this one is coming straight from the heart. Words are coming through my head way too fast for my poor battered hands to keep up but I have the feeling that this might just be my favourite piece of writing ever. It’s certainly the least I can do to pay homage to what I witnessed on Wednesday.
There is no other way to describe it, there is just simply no way I can make it sound any better than by stating the simple fact. Even if I was capable of waxing lyrical with all sorts of wonderfully descriptive sentences littered with beautiful artistic expressions, there would simply be no point. On this occasion, stating simple, pure undiluted fact is the only way forward…..
WE BEAT THE FUCKING ENGLISH!!!
Now – before you think – “here he goes off on an anti-English rant” – keep the faith - it is nothing of the sort.
But make no mistake about what my home country of Northern Ireland (or “Norn Iron” as it said by the locals) achieved on Wednesday.
In football terms - it was nothing short of miraculous.
David slaying Goliath.
David slaying a whole army of Goliaths.
A whole army of Goliaths armed to the teeth with AK47’s, rocket launchers and those cool light sabers out of Star Wars.
Anyway – I think you get the picture…
Every one of those men dressed in green on Wednesday night did us proud – and I’m not just talking about the men on the pitch either. Every Northern Ireland supporter that was at that match must surely have woken up yesterday with a hangover (and a few others who weren’t at the match either will not be feeling much better either - I know one fella sitting at his desk here in Antwerp that was a “little under the weather”) but it has got to be one of the sweetest hangovers many of us have ever experienced.
Not so long ago, Windsor Park, the football stadium in South Belfast where Northern Ireland play their home games was dubbed as “The Cauldron of Hate” by none other than that most honorary of English-born Irish men, the former Republic of Ireland team manager, Jack Charlton.
Please indulge me a little walk down memory lane….
A little under two decades ago, Northern Ireland and The Republic of Ireland were drawn together in the same qualifying group. A draw that was greeted with much anticipation by both sets of supporters for obvious reasons.
When the fixture list was organised, it was deemed that Northern Ireland should play the Republic of Ireland in Belfast on the last qualifying match.
We could not wait.
Tickets were at a premium but my mate “Gaffer” and I block-booked for all the qualifiers, so our seats were guaranteed for the big game.
Playing the Republic of Ireland in Dublin, Northern Ireland were duly beaten. The better team one. There was no shame in that. Hard to take, yes but we certainly couldn’t argue with the result. At that time, Northern Ireland was very much the poor relation in Irish football.
The memories of knocking the host nation out of the 1982 world cup in Spain – even after we had a man dubiously sent off and had to battle against some shocking refereeing decisions – were slowly fading. No matter how much we wanted to hold on to the glory days of Spain ’82 and Mexico ’86, they were confined to the annals of history - whether we liked it or not.
And boy did we not like it.
To further compound our misery, the Republic of Ireland was fast becoming a force to be reckoned with in world football. Jack Charlton had galvanised a team of English and Scottish-born players (with somewhat dubious claims to Irish ancestry) – along with a few real Irish thrown in for good measure – and moulded them into a team to be reckoned with.
Add to this scenario, the politics of Ireland and Northern Ireland’s turbulent past, this was an enormous game for the Northern Ireland supporters.
And Jack Charlton knew it.
As the qualifiers came down to the crunch, it became apparent that in order for the Republic of Ireland to be certain of qualification, they would have to come to Belfast and win. Northern Ireland, alas, were languishing near the bottom of the group, our hopes of qualifying having long faded.
Still – we had more than enough to keep up our interest – we could still prevent the Republic of Ireland from qualifying.
As I write these words I realise that this all may be perceived like the rant of a narrow minded bigot but I ask you – would it be any different if it was England v Scotland or Wales? Belgium v Holland? Spain v Portugal? Argentina v Brazil?
Of course not.
Our nearest neighbours – a country that we’ve shared a less-than-easy existence with on the Island of Ireland - a team far better than ours was coming to town – and what was all the more annoying was that it was a team littered with people born in places like London, Liverpool and Glasgow. Footballers who had no hope of playing for their native countries where digging up their Irish roots and turning up to play for the Irish.
A great example of this is Tony Cascarino – the then Republic of Ireland striker. When his team qualified for the world cup in USA 1990 – he didn’t even possess an Irish passport because he didn’t have the necessary paperwork.
So of course there was intense rivalry leading up to the game. And then Jack Charlton started to play funny bugger.
Claiming that he was worried for the safety of his players and supporters travelling to Belfast to play in what he described as a ”Cauldron of Hate”, he asked for the game to be rearranged to a ‘neutral’ venue. By neutral he suggested Liverpool or Glasgow. If any of you have been to either city, it is laughable to even suggest that either city would be neutral when Ireland was playing.
But apart from being laughable, it was also an absolute disgrace and an insult to the people of Northern Ireland.
FIFA (the governing body of world football) quite rightly laughed in Jack Charlton’s face and told him to put up and shut up.
And that is where the “Cauldron of Hate” was born. We, as Northern Ireland supporters never thought of it as such but it was nice of Jack to point It out and throw petrol on what was already an explosive situation.
We tried our best to oblige, the atmosphere in the old stadium was electric and we very nearly did it – the match finishing 1-1 and the Republic scraping through thanks to some heroic goal keeping in the other match that night by the Danish goalkeeper Peter Schmeicel.
But anyway….on to more recent times.
Wednesday night to be exact.
Yes - Northern Ireland, a team ranked 116th in the world, a team who last year set the dubious world record for being the international team that had gone the longest run without scoring a goal (1298 minutes to be exact), a team made up of footballers plying their trade with such footballing powerhouses as Hull, Peterborough, Plymouth and Hearts, a team who only on Saturday recorded their first competitive win in four years….over the mighty Azerbaijan…took on the 200 plus million pounds worth of footballing talent that the English could boast – and beat them.
And make no mistake – this was no lucky win. Northern Ireland fully deserved the victory. Apart from a wonderful free-kick from the boy Beckham (nice hair David), and an opportunistic overhead kick from the lad Owen (oh – so he was on the pitch…) the only other thing that England contributed to proceedings was Shrek-a-Rooney throwing his obligatory foul-mouthed tantrum and throwing his considerable weight around, narrowily escaping a red card from the referee.
Honest to God that lad has got nothing but a wind-tunnel going between those two big ears of his.
"Are you Scotland in disguise?" taunted the Northern Ireland fans. Certainly not, for the Scots are a winning side again. But it has to be said that the fans played a huge part in our unlikely success.
They were magnificent – and like the players were up for it right from the start.
I love going to Northern Ireland matches. The stadium is tiny by international standards, with a capacity of 14,000 (which could have been sold out 10 times over for last nights match).
Windsor Park is dark, dingy, exposed and there is nearly always a gale force wind blowing around the place. It’s certainly a far cry from what the English team of superstars, with their millionaire lifestyles would be used to. – and of course this played to our advantage – but make no mistake – 13,000 Northern Ireland supporters can make a helluva lot of noise and the English team looked visibly nervous coming out onto the pitch.
The 1000 travelling English fans were drowned out by the cacophony of noise from the Green and White army but they surely couldn’t have been surprised by that - after all - at the corresponding fixture in Manchester (a game that I was at), the 7000 travelling Northern Ireland fans outsung the 60,000 English for the entire afternoon. Even though we got hammered 4-0
I had a ticket for Wednesday night’s game but unfortunately was unable to make it, my brother saddled with the far from tortuous task of trying to find a buyer for it. Oh how I wished I was there.
3 hours before kick off, I received a phone call from my brother Darren already well in the party mood in Belfast. “We’re gonna do it tonight, Jonny – bet on a 2-0 win for us – I’ll give you the money out of my winnings!!”
Darren – I should take this opportunity to confess that I didn’t follow your conviction and failed to put the bet on, as I thought it was obviously the request of a drunken fool - a drunken fool that would regret his impulsiveness when he woke up the following day after defeat, with a hangover AND have a hole in his pocket from the foolish bet. And with two minutes remaining, we very nearly did score a second – Warren Feeney’s shot going inches past the post.
I would have had some explaining to do had that one gone in…
So instead of being at the match adding my considerable vocal encouragement to the Green and White Army, I had to settle for a bar in Antwerp dressed in full Northern Ireland kit, scarf et al. Needless to say I was sweating buckets and that was before I started to watch the match.
To use a phrase coined in the BBC comedy series Little Britain, for as long as I have been in Antwerp, I have always been “The only gay in the village” and by that I mean being Northern Irish AND proud of it. I have met a few people from the same country but thanks to the politics and history of Ireland, they don’t recognise that as a country and prefer to be known as Irish.
Each to their own and I’m certainly not going to make any political statements here. I am just saying that being the way I am has set me up for a bit of criticism from certain Irish individuals in Antwerp; people who perhaps have a problem with me because of who I am or where I come from.
Most of it of course has always been good-natured banter and I can certainly give it just as much as take it but when it came to the football there was really never anything I could say in response. We have been bad - there can be no doubt about that.
I sometimes wished that I was in this situation – living abroad, surrounded by English, Scottish and Irish (do the Welsh ever travel?) – during 1982, when we enjoyed our finest ever moment in our proud 125 year history.
But Wednesday night has provided all of us Norn Iron supporters something to be proud of and put a smile on all our faces. Even my mum and my other brother – neither football fans have been in touch about the result. The whole country has been lifted by it.
For far too long, we have been berated by our own people, the press and media. In fact, for a World Cup qualifying match last season, BBC Northern Ireland decided to show only highlights of the game instead of the whole match live but chose to show a 1-hour studio debate before the highlights. The topic of the debate? “Is there any need in today’s society for a Northern Ireland football team?”
What sort of bollocks is that???
Now - after the performance of Wednesday I no longer need to….I am proud to be The Only Gay in The Village!!
Here’s to a magnificent performance from Norn Iron – players and supporters alike and good luck to England in the World Cup finals, coz we all know you’ll qualify for it anyway.
But before I go, here is an excerpt from yesterday’s Belfast Telegraph, perhaps a little tongue in cheek…
How our heroes rated Marks out of 10 for the Windsor Legends
By Paul Ferguson
Maik Taylor: Only had to make two saves during the first half and in the second period dealt with everything that came his way. Looked totally assured catching crosses and totally dominated his area. 10
Chris Baird: Wayne Rooney never got a sniff with the Southampton Reserves player keeping him quiet throughout the game. Will be disappointed to have received a booking for time wasting but I'm sure he doesn't care after this result. 10
Aaron Hughes: Led the Northern Ireland back four with great authority and soaked up any pressure that came his way. Kept calm and composed and deserves all the credit that comes his way. Quite simply, captain marvel. 10
Stephen Craigan: Sensational display from the Motherwell centre back. Outstanding in the air and easily his best performance for Northern Ireland. Owen and Rooney didn't look dangerous with the Newtownards man brilliant alongside Aaron Hughes. 10
Tony Capaldi: Struggled during the opening 20 minutes with Shaun Wright Phillips but once he settled down he grew in confidence and actually enjoying going forward alongside Stuart Elliott. Solid and terrific. 10
Keith Gillespie: Did what he had to do very well - help out Chris Baird in the right back position and go forward at every opportunity. Scared the life out of Ashley Cole at times towards the end of the first half and during the second. Back to his old self. 10
Damien Johnson: Didn't give England's midfield players any time or space on the ball and along with his young partner Steve Davis was unbelievable. Will be annoyed with a booking during the first half after a foul on Frank Lampard - but that certainly didn't mean he pulled out of any crunching tackles. 10
Steven Davis: The Ballymena man came of age last night and certainly didn't look out of place in the midfield against Steven Gerrard, Frank Lampard and David Beckham. He was strong in the tackle and created a number of opportunities for Healy and Quinn. Easy to see why David O'Leary gave him his Premiership chance. 10
Stuart Elliott: A brave and committed performance from the Hull City winger. Never stopped running and putting his head in to win important balls. Wasn't able to play his usual game as Luke Young marshalled him well. But gave his all as usual. Ecstatic at the end. 10
David Healy: Scored his most important goal in a green shirt when he shot past Paul Robinson on 74 minutes last night. Ran his heart out for the Northern Ireland cause despite still carrying an injury. Rio Ferdinand certainly wasn't comfortable dealing with the former Manchester United hotshot. 11
James Quinn: A moment to remember for the Peterborough United striker when he dispossessed England captain David Beckham with a crunching tackle on 62 minutes, which set up a Northern Ireland attack much to the delight of the Windsor Park faithful. Was a nuisance to the English defence all night and held the ball up very well. An immense performance. Had one shot in the second half which went just inches pastRobinson's left hand post. 10
Substitutes:
Warren Feeney: Came on for James Quinn and simply ran at the tired England defenders. Had a chance to score in injury time but unfortunately it just went past the post. 10
Ivan Sproule: What a night for the former Institute and Omagh Town winger. Not much time to impress, however enjoyed every moment of his seven minutes on the pitch. Replaced goalscorer David Healy. 10
Michael Duff: On for Stuart Elliott in injury time as Lawrie Sanchez ran down the clock. 10
Folks,
It’s been a while since I last blogged and instead of going through the usual apologies, I’m gonna cut straight to the chase.
Suffice to say that my head has been up my arse ever since I came back from holiday in France and it has taken a while for the operation to remove it to be a success. Wednesday night, it has to be said, was a big step in the right direction for me.
For two hours, I was able to forget about all my troubles and worries and it was good therapy to see something that made me feel inspired enough to put finger to keypad and share with you what has got to be one of THE greatest moments in my life.
I’m trying to think of moments to compare it with and I’m struggling to do so. For you see, even at the ripe old age of 33, I have not experienced births of children or marriages, nor similar life-altering events of such lofty stature which would normally be reserved for the title of “The Best Day of My Life”
But without doubt Wednesday night has certainly joined a shortlist of few.
So what happened that night that has inspired me so and got me appreciating the birds singing in the trees, the sun shining in the sky, the pretty girls in their summer clothes? (Actually that last one I have always been very appreciative of)
Well I suppose for those of you that know me - and let’s face it – if you’ve been reading my blogs you know me better than most – it will come as no surprise that this latest blog is once again football related.
But before you reach for the ‘delete’ button – hear me out. For those of you that hate my football-related blogs I make absolutely no apologies for this one. For this was a result of epic proportions. Even in comparison, Liverpool’s European Champion’s League winning exploits back in May pales into insignificance.
All I do ask of you is to please bear with me - this one is coming straight from the heart. Words are coming through my head way too fast for my poor battered hands to keep up but I have the feeling that this might just be my favourite piece of writing ever. It’s certainly the least I can do to pay homage to what I witnessed on Wednesday.
There is no other way to describe it, there is just simply no way I can make it sound any better than by stating the simple fact. Even if I was capable of waxing lyrical with all sorts of wonderfully descriptive sentences littered with beautiful artistic expressions, there would simply be no point. On this occasion, stating simple, pure undiluted fact is the only way forward…..
WE BEAT THE FUCKING ENGLISH!!!
Now – before you think – “here he goes off on an anti-English rant” – keep the faith - it is nothing of the sort.
But make no mistake about what my home country of Northern Ireland (or “Norn Iron” as it said by the locals) achieved on Wednesday.
In football terms - it was nothing short of miraculous.
David slaying Goliath.
David slaying a whole army of Goliaths.
A whole army of Goliaths armed to the teeth with AK47’s, rocket launchers and those cool light sabers out of Star Wars.
Anyway – I think you get the picture…
Every one of those men dressed in green on Wednesday night did us proud – and I’m not just talking about the men on the pitch either. Every Northern Ireland supporter that was at that match must surely have woken up yesterday with a hangover (and a few others who weren’t at the match either will not be feeling much better either - I know one fella sitting at his desk here in Antwerp that was a “little under the weather”) but it has got to be one of the sweetest hangovers many of us have ever experienced.
Not so long ago, Windsor Park, the football stadium in South Belfast where Northern Ireland play their home games was dubbed as “The Cauldron of Hate” by none other than that most honorary of English-born Irish men, the former Republic of Ireland team manager, Jack Charlton.
Please indulge me a little walk down memory lane….
A little under two decades ago, Northern Ireland and The Republic of Ireland were drawn together in the same qualifying group. A draw that was greeted with much anticipation by both sets of supporters for obvious reasons.
When the fixture list was organised, it was deemed that Northern Ireland should play the Republic of Ireland in Belfast on the last qualifying match.
We could not wait.
Tickets were at a premium but my mate “Gaffer” and I block-booked for all the qualifiers, so our seats were guaranteed for the big game.
Playing the Republic of Ireland in Dublin, Northern Ireland were duly beaten. The better team one. There was no shame in that. Hard to take, yes but we certainly couldn’t argue with the result. At that time, Northern Ireland was very much the poor relation in Irish football.
The memories of knocking the host nation out of the 1982 world cup in Spain – even after we had a man dubiously sent off and had to battle against some shocking refereeing decisions – were slowly fading. No matter how much we wanted to hold on to the glory days of Spain ’82 and Mexico ’86, they were confined to the annals of history - whether we liked it or not.
And boy did we not like it.
To further compound our misery, the Republic of Ireland was fast becoming a force to be reckoned with in world football. Jack Charlton had galvanised a team of English and Scottish-born players (with somewhat dubious claims to Irish ancestry) – along with a few real Irish thrown in for good measure – and moulded them into a team to be reckoned with.
Add to this scenario, the politics of Ireland and Northern Ireland’s turbulent past, this was an enormous game for the Northern Ireland supporters.
And Jack Charlton knew it.
As the qualifiers came down to the crunch, it became apparent that in order for the Republic of Ireland to be certain of qualification, they would have to come to Belfast and win. Northern Ireland, alas, were languishing near the bottom of the group, our hopes of qualifying having long faded.
Still – we had more than enough to keep up our interest – we could still prevent the Republic of Ireland from qualifying.
As I write these words I realise that this all may be perceived like the rant of a narrow minded bigot but I ask you – would it be any different if it was England v Scotland or Wales? Belgium v Holland? Spain v Portugal? Argentina v Brazil?
Of course not.
Our nearest neighbours – a country that we’ve shared a less-than-easy existence with on the Island of Ireland - a team far better than ours was coming to town – and what was all the more annoying was that it was a team littered with people born in places like London, Liverpool and Glasgow. Footballers who had no hope of playing for their native countries where digging up their Irish roots and turning up to play for the Irish.
A great example of this is Tony Cascarino – the then Republic of Ireland striker. When his team qualified for the world cup in USA 1990 – he didn’t even possess an Irish passport because he didn’t have the necessary paperwork.
So of course there was intense rivalry leading up to the game. And then Jack Charlton started to play funny bugger.
Claiming that he was worried for the safety of his players and supporters travelling to Belfast to play in what he described as a ”Cauldron of Hate”, he asked for the game to be rearranged to a ‘neutral’ venue. By neutral he suggested Liverpool or Glasgow. If any of you have been to either city, it is laughable to even suggest that either city would be neutral when Ireland was playing.
But apart from being laughable, it was also an absolute disgrace and an insult to the people of Northern Ireland.
FIFA (the governing body of world football) quite rightly laughed in Jack Charlton’s face and told him to put up and shut up.
And that is where the “Cauldron of Hate” was born. We, as Northern Ireland supporters never thought of it as such but it was nice of Jack to point It out and throw petrol on what was already an explosive situation.
We tried our best to oblige, the atmosphere in the old stadium was electric and we very nearly did it – the match finishing 1-1 and the Republic scraping through thanks to some heroic goal keeping in the other match that night by the Danish goalkeeper Peter Schmeicel.
But anyway….on to more recent times.
Wednesday night to be exact.
Yes - Northern Ireland, a team ranked 116th in the world, a team who last year set the dubious world record for being the international team that had gone the longest run without scoring a goal (1298 minutes to be exact), a team made up of footballers plying their trade with such footballing powerhouses as Hull, Peterborough, Plymouth and Hearts, a team who only on Saturday recorded their first competitive win in four years….over the mighty Azerbaijan…took on the 200 plus million pounds worth of footballing talent that the English could boast – and beat them.
And make no mistake – this was no lucky win. Northern Ireland fully deserved the victory. Apart from a wonderful free-kick from the boy Beckham (nice hair David), and an opportunistic overhead kick from the lad Owen (oh – so he was on the pitch…) the only other thing that England contributed to proceedings was Shrek-a-Rooney throwing his obligatory foul-mouthed tantrum and throwing his considerable weight around, narrowily escaping a red card from the referee.
Honest to God that lad has got nothing but a wind-tunnel going between those two big ears of his.
"Are you Scotland in disguise?" taunted the Northern Ireland fans. Certainly not, for the Scots are a winning side again. But it has to be said that the fans played a huge part in our unlikely success.
They were magnificent – and like the players were up for it right from the start.
I love going to Northern Ireland matches. The stadium is tiny by international standards, with a capacity of 14,000 (which could have been sold out 10 times over for last nights match).
Windsor Park is dark, dingy, exposed and there is nearly always a gale force wind blowing around the place. It’s certainly a far cry from what the English team of superstars, with their millionaire lifestyles would be used to. – and of course this played to our advantage – but make no mistake – 13,000 Northern Ireland supporters can make a helluva lot of noise and the English team looked visibly nervous coming out onto the pitch.
The 1000 travelling English fans were drowned out by the cacophony of noise from the Green and White army but they surely couldn’t have been surprised by that - after all - at the corresponding fixture in Manchester (a game that I was at), the 7000 travelling Northern Ireland fans outsung the 60,000 English for the entire afternoon. Even though we got hammered 4-0
I had a ticket for Wednesday night’s game but unfortunately was unable to make it, my brother saddled with the far from tortuous task of trying to find a buyer for it. Oh how I wished I was there.
3 hours before kick off, I received a phone call from my brother Darren already well in the party mood in Belfast. “We’re gonna do it tonight, Jonny – bet on a 2-0 win for us – I’ll give you the money out of my winnings!!”
Darren – I should take this opportunity to confess that I didn’t follow your conviction and failed to put the bet on, as I thought it was obviously the request of a drunken fool - a drunken fool that would regret his impulsiveness when he woke up the following day after defeat, with a hangover AND have a hole in his pocket from the foolish bet. And with two minutes remaining, we very nearly did score a second – Warren Feeney’s shot going inches past the post.
I would have had some explaining to do had that one gone in…
So instead of being at the match adding my considerable vocal encouragement to the Green and White Army, I had to settle for a bar in Antwerp dressed in full Northern Ireland kit, scarf et al. Needless to say I was sweating buckets and that was before I started to watch the match.
To use a phrase coined in the BBC comedy series Little Britain, for as long as I have been in Antwerp, I have always been “The only gay in the village” and by that I mean being Northern Irish AND proud of it. I have met a few people from the same country but thanks to the politics and history of Ireland, they don’t recognise that as a country and prefer to be known as Irish.
Each to their own and I’m certainly not going to make any political statements here. I am just saying that being the way I am has set me up for a bit of criticism from certain Irish individuals in Antwerp; people who perhaps have a problem with me because of who I am or where I come from.
Most of it of course has always been good-natured banter and I can certainly give it just as much as take it but when it came to the football there was really never anything I could say in response. We have been bad - there can be no doubt about that.
I sometimes wished that I was in this situation – living abroad, surrounded by English, Scottish and Irish (do the Welsh ever travel?) – during 1982, when we enjoyed our finest ever moment in our proud 125 year history.
But Wednesday night has provided all of us Norn Iron supporters something to be proud of and put a smile on all our faces. Even my mum and my other brother – neither football fans have been in touch about the result. The whole country has been lifted by it.
For far too long, we have been berated by our own people, the press and media. In fact, for a World Cup qualifying match last season, BBC Northern Ireland decided to show only highlights of the game instead of the whole match live but chose to show a 1-hour studio debate before the highlights. The topic of the debate? “Is there any need in today’s society for a Northern Ireland football team?”
What sort of bollocks is that???
Now - after the performance of Wednesday I no longer need to….I am proud to be The Only Gay in The Village!!
Here’s to a magnificent performance from Norn Iron – players and supporters alike and good luck to England in the World Cup finals, coz we all know you’ll qualify for it anyway.
But before I go, here is an excerpt from yesterday’s Belfast Telegraph, perhaps a little tongue in cheek…
How our heroes rated Marks out of 10 for the Windsor Legends
By Paul Ferguson
Maik Taylor: Only had to make two saves during the first half and in the second period dealt with everything that came his way. Looked totally assured catching crosses and totally dominated his area. 10
Chris Baird: Wayne Rooney never got a sniff with the Southampton Reserves player keeping him quiet throughout the game. Will be disappointed to have received a booking for time wasting but I'm sure he doesn't care after this result. 10
Aaron Hughes: Led the Northern Ireland back four with great authority and soaked up any pressure that came his way. Kept calm and composed and deserves all the credit that comes his way. Quite simply, captain marvel. 10
Stephen Craigan: Sensational display from the Motherwell centre back. Outstanding in the air and easily his best performance for Northern Ireland. Owen and Rooney didn't look dangerous with the Newtownards man brilliant alongside Aaron Hughes. 10
Tony Capaldi: Struggled during the opening 20 minutes with Shaun Wright Phillips but once he settled down he grew in confidence and actually enjoying going forward alongside Stuart Elliott. Solid and terrific. 10
Keith Gillespie: Did what he had to do very well - help out Chris Baird in the right back position and go forward at every opportunity. Scared the life out of Ashley Cole at times towards the end of the first half and during the second. Back to his old self. 10
Damien Johnson: Didn't give England's midfield players any time or space on the ball and along with his young partner Steve Davis was unbelievable. Will be annoyed with a booking during the first half after a foul on Frank Lampard - but that certainly didn't mean he pulled out of any crunching tackles. 10
Steven Davis: The Ballymena man came of age last night and certainly didn't look out of place in the midfield against Steven Gerrard, Frank Lampard and David Beckham. He was strong in the tackle and created a number of opportunities for Healy and Quinn. Easy to see why David O'Leary gave him his Premiership chance. 10
Stuart Elliott: A brave and committed performance from the Hull City winger. Never stopped running and putting his head in to win important balls. Wasn't able to play his usual game as Luke Young marshalled him well. But gave his all as usual. Ecstatic at the end. 10
David Healy: Scored his most important goal in a green shirt when he shot past Paul Robinson on 74 minutes last night. Ran his heart out for the Northern Ireland cause despite still carrying an injury. Rio Ferdinand certainly wasn't comfortable dealing with the former Manchester United hotshot. 11
James Quinn: A moment to remember for the Peterborough United striker when he dispossessed England captain David Beckham with a crunching tackle on 62 minutes, which set up a Northern Ireland attack much to the delight of the Windsor Park faithful. Was a nuisance to the English defence all night and held the ball up very well. An immense performance. Had one shot in the second half which went just inches pastRobinson's left hand post. 10
Substitutes:
Warren Feeney: Came on for James Quinn and simply ran at the tired England defenders. Had a chance to score in injury time but unfortunately it just went past the post. 10
Ivan Sproule: What a night for the former Institute and Omagh Town winger. Not much time to impress, however enjoyed every moment of his seven minutes on the pitch. Replaced goalscorer David Healy. 10
Michael Duff: On for Stuart Elliott in injury time as Lawrie Sanchez ran down the clock. 10
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