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A long way for a Friday game!
Chronicle editor, September 19, 2008
As some of you who have put up with my ramblings in the past will know, I have the dubious fortune of being a football fan. And in particular a Watford fan.
Over the decades it's not always been the easiest cross to bear – particularly in those long-gone days when Biggleswade was full of fans of arch rivals Luton Town enjoying their moment in the limelight.
My club's now nestled into the second tier of English football. Good one week – then, like on Tuesday, we lose to the bottom team who hadn't won a game.
In my time I've also ventured to support them away, which is always an entertaining experience.
Apart from anything else, if my geography of the UK was lacking before it's now much better.
The chances are that if I had not been following football I would never have sampled the delights of visiting, Rotherham, Hull, Sunderland, Carlisle, Burnley and Walsall – and Middlesbrough on a Tuesday night.
Apologies if you hail from any of those towns but they're probably not on most people 's list of must-sees.
However, having already headed to a fair chunk of the places we're likely to play this season, I've turned my attentions to catching a few games on the continent – sadly not featuring my team!
For those who read last week's column, that was one of the reasons I headed to Germany last week on my ill-fated rail trip.
Soak up a bit of late summer sunshine, the buzz of a city, bit of culture and some football – can't beat it I say!
Whilst I'm sure the majority of readers think going to watch football in a random foreign town is plain daft, there may just be a few who think – ok, a bit odd but fair enough. When I say I watched Bayer Leverkusen on the Saturday, a famous team just outside Cologne, that may also get a thumbs up.
Where I possibly lose virtually my entire audience is when I confess that, with nothing planned for the Friday night, I took in a game in Bundesliga B.
At a place an hour away.
It's kind of like coming to England and going to watch Preston North End.
Yes, not only have I now heard of the city of Duisburg, I know it has a football team and they're nicknamed the Zebras as they play in stripes. I've also heard 13,000 fans belting out their song.
Bizarre, yes, but going to a game alongside real locals will probably give you a better vibe about a country than a dozen tourist attractions.
It's also infinitely more fun than a freezing afternoon in Grimsby.
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Weather for Biggleswade
Tuesday 22 May 2012
Today
Sunny
Temperature: 11 C to 24 C
Wind Speed: 15 mph
Wind direction: North
Tomorrow
Sunny spells
Temperature: 11 C to 22 C
Wind Speed: 12 mph
Wind direction: North
