HTAFC v Bristol City & Preston North End - A trip n’ a half

[westislandterrier]

Well folks - Back in Connel and reunited with the old iPad once again thankfully ! 
So a trip that should’ve been smooth to ma favourite town and county turned out to be anything but although defeat to Preston apart everything was great in dear old Huddersfield... 

So the plan was to nip out to the family home in Connel for a week before travelling to England but hey ho - the best laid plans of mice and men and all of that came crashing down around my ears when my motor lights kept coming on after being switched off and I had a flat battery the day before travelling and the mechanic told me it was some to do with a really box and being on The West Island it’d take over a week to repair and get parts due to our location so onto Plan B then and skip the family visit this time, however with Auntie Kate being poorly in The Southern General Hospital in Glasgow with kidney failure and my old maw desperate to see her it was the plan to get to Connel and take her in the niece’s car but here her keys went to Glasgow with her on the night Kate went to hospital so it would be a night in Glasgow to pick them up first 😬 

So there it was on Wed 6th Dec and get the 3.30pm ferry departure only it wasn’t to quite be as the second ferry back after a 12 month repair couldn’t undock due to a ramp failure and the one for us was three hours late and not in the mainland until 8.30pm a good two and a half hours after the last bus for Glasgow had departed. 
However having negotiated with Caledonian MacBrayne staff about ma plight they agreed to pay me as the soul foot passenger a taxi at their expense to Glasgow 👍  So a good three hour booze up was had in The very snug Port Askaig bar in good company and onto the ferry I went which was the crossing from Hell where everyone was bloody sick everywhere (Jeez The Cal-Mac girls deserve a medal for having to put up with that carry on) and for my own part I just sat outside boozing ! 🥃 🍺
Then it was a swanky Mercedes taxi to Glasgow to pick up the nieces keys and finally a few beers before heading to Connel on Thursday on the train. 
So off we set on the train early Thursday and got to Crainlarach only to be told there was a tree across the line and we’d need to wait an hour in freezing wet conditions for a replacement bus - Oh to have nipped into The Rod n’ Reel for a warmer if I hadn’t to drive mama mia to Glasgow !
So off we set in awful conditions wet and windy and floods (thankfully no landslides though) and reached the hospital but only after a two minute drive was increased to 45 mins due to brutal traffic approaching The Clyde Tunnel which was reduced by fifty percent - Anyway we did visit Kate who told me to have a ball in Huddersfield which I certainly did ! 
And that was it, mother despacthed at the nieces flat in Patrick and her car and keys as well and it was out time for me for a quick 45 minute session before the bloody Glasgow pubs shut at midnight ☹️ 

And so to Friday and departure from Glasgow at 11am on megabus and the back seat to myself with music, pieces and whisky in The Diet Irn Brewery bottle which was really a nice journey ok we got to Manchester a bit later than planned due to rush hour etc but get there we did and into The Hounds n’ Hares in Shouldhill only to be told by the lovely Leanne that the trains from Manchester to Huddersfield were on strike ! 
So on making enquires they said a union agreement meant no replacement buses were on and bang went ma two hour session in Manchester as I had to lug my trolley case to Manchester Victoria tram line and get a tram line to a place called Oldham MUMPS (something I had in 1976 on ma sixth birthday) and by this time I was off ma trolley far less the case ! 
And on arrival there another disaster - The stop outside the bus depo sign had 184 Huddersfield on it but due to roadworks the bus had cut off further up the street and it’d be an hour until the next and last one so when a lad offered me to split the cost of something called an Ubar taxi from Oldham to Huddersfield that would be there in two minutes I jumped at the chance of it for a tenner ! 
The funny thing was my wee maw got onto me for describing it in ma text to her as an ooghbar ! She says I must brush up on my spelling sooner rather than later.
And so after a run through Rochdale I think and over big moors we landed at Huddersfield bus station at 9pm where I breezed in to be remembered by three people and warmly greeted as ‘WESTIE - Good to see you down again ! Heartwarming it was after that journey indeed and after a pint of Stella for only £4.05 👍 😊 it was self service check in time and then out for a curry at La La’s and out in Showtime till 4am then up town again for a bottle of whisky at 4.30am for a wind down drink and a Hair of the dog before starting out on the Saturday ! 

[detox]

You deserve a medal as well as a better football team...

[themanfromatlantis]

Legend…

[Orinoco]

A classic post from Westie brightens up a shite week!!

[conman]

Post of the year that Westie . You ought to forward it to uncle Kev in California..

[westislandterrier]

Part 2 Huddersfield v Bristol City (Saturday) -

So after a Hair o’ the dog in The Queensgate digs it was down to The HTAFC superstore to thank Luke and his wonderful staff with a wee gratuity for their kindness all year with my purchases and while I was at it I fancied another 4 new line T-shirts and a nice navy blue for mama mia (This would increase after the final purchase of a beeney hat to deal with the awful weather after the game) !
The game was enjoyable enough and it was a great euphoria when we scored a decent goal indeed and while it could have gone any way on the day we might have won had we got the penalty I think we should’ve had and thankfully I was still in the bar area supping a pint of Town lager when Bristol City equalised...
But I was reasonably pleased with a point and after getting soaked walking through town home via a few pubs with my new attire tightly held in the bag to keep it dry, I watched the football on tv and then headed back out in my new gear but with the rain I just stayed local at warehouse and Showtime where in Showtime you can get a double Jura malt for only SIX pounds - utterly incredible is that ! 👍
So on Sunday it was just a wander about various pubs in Huddersfield watching the games on live and enjoying the music and out for a munchi at night in Botafoga I think it was and all in all a very nice day in ma favourite English Town 😊

And so to Monday and as this was a loose day I decided to travel out of Huddersfield and in ma party days in my old house this girl Lucy used to come into my bit and say that she was born and spent the first bit of her life in Rotherham and that I must ‘go there sometime’ so this was it - and so for £12.60 return that was it a lovely train run down indeed good views of the huge tv mast at Emely Moor and Oakwell in Barnsley and then a wee stop at a very busy and very big Meadowhall shopping centre and then it was arrival in Rotherham central - and my goodness Huddersfield is the ritz in comparison to Rotherham which doesn’t seem to have a lot going for it at all.
The town centre only had one or two stragglers wandering around and this at 5pm too. So in the first pub I got clocked as a Town fan or in Rotherham language a ‘dog botherer’ with I laughed off by saying that Glaswegians visiting The Whisky Isle sometimes call us ‘sheep botherers’ !
In the next (and final) boozer there on hearing ma Scottish accent ordering at the bar a guy about ten feet away started chanting ‘Rangers EFL - Rangers EFL’ and assuming this was aimed at me I asked the lassie next to me what he meant as Rangers are sure as Hell not in The EFL and she said she thought he was meaning EDL which is apparently a political party that likes Rangers or something like that - well I’ve no,interest in Rangers unless they are representing Scotland in Europe (but my sister likes them) and I’ve certainly not got any bloody interest in politics far less one called The EDL that’s based in Rotherham and for whatever reason seems to like Rangers from Glasgow !
I’m sure there are many good people in Rotherham and I hope the town can see better and busier times in the future.
So back North it was and I stopped of in Barnsley for an hour which was better as the folks in the pub seemed to like Huddersfield and The Tykes I was drinking with really spoke highly of Huddersfield as a place and said they loved their day out there and would love to get back to having it happen once again. They seemed like hardworking pit guys that were very sorry that the industry collapsed in Scotland as well as England and I enjoyed my hour there !
So back to Huddersfield again thankfully and an earlier night in at 2am...

And so to match day and it all started off in The Rat n’ Rachet a fine pub where I enjoyed a harmony with Preston fans who asked me to walk with them to,the game, they we’re older than me the six of them and I said I would need a break on the way at The Vulcan and I walked them to the door of The Boy n’ Barrel as it’s the designated away supporter bar and I gave them two taxi business cards to get them to the game and they were very pleased to hear how myself and Town came together and thanked me very much for my help that I gave them 👍
And so to the game itself - well the least said the better although I was pleased to see Danny Ward score and hopefully it’ll be good for his confidence going forward.
So after a walk in nice weather to the gasworks with my friend Sue from Honely who has been a season ticket holder since 1968 no less it was up to The Vulcan where the craic was mighty with Gez and his lovely wife Gemma and also Paul and Helen (sister in law of Hudds Town Exile) and their friends and a big thank you to the hardworking bar staff on the night of Stacey, Lauren and Mia ! 🍺
And that was it then - check out on Wednesday a wee visit to a few pubs ending in The Head of Steam and a delayed train to Manchester Victoria instead of Piccadilly as it was late due to a points failure in Batley and the girl selling tickets laughed as I said that there was point failures a plenty in The North East of Huddersfield at Station John Smith ! 😉
So a quick pint in Manchester and a quiet bus to Glasgow where I slept plenty of it and then check in at Glasgow and back into town to meet ma buddy from my old housing estate ‘Screachy’ (her real name Liz McGeachy) to celebrate her 48th birthday and out the pub at midnight not through choice but that’s Glasgow license laws unfortunately ☹️

So Thursday it was a train to Connel to visit mother and get her shopping etc as my sister is currently in Glasgow so a nice quiet weekend ahead to give the liver a rest with just ma wee maw and Seamus the stripey cat !
And all things being well back to Glasgow on Tuesday and to Islay on Wednesday as I can’t get direct from Oban due to a landslide at Kilmartin blocking the road and hopefully I can pick up my repaired motor on Thursday as my Goodness you miss them in the winters up here when they’re not working and this breakdown has cost me two more extra nights in Glasgow and countless miles more than normal which by the time I all being well get home on Wednesday will be an eye watering 1132 miles of travel...

But you know what it’s been worth the experience and it’s what we do for our love of Huddersfield Town !!! 💙 ⚽️ 💙

[colnevalleyblue]

We are blessed to have you as a fan Westie. Always enjoy your posts.

[Macduff]

Westie you're a bit of a star, but I worry about your liver. X

[htfcterry]

I can’t help but read your posts in a Billy Connolly type Scottish accent. Great posts - hope your Aunt is recovering and well.

[terriersyndrome]

Top man, Westie 🫡

I wish the players knew what some fans go through to get to games before they start strolling around the pitch without a care in the world.

[Torquayterrier]

Dec 16, 2023 10:34:00 GMT 1 htfcterry said:

I can’t help but read your posts in a Billy Connolly type Scottish accent. Great posts - hope your Aunt is recovering and well.

I've always pictured Hot Shot Hamish from the comics in my head when reading Westies posts.

[Deleted]

Dec 16, 2023 10:12:43 GMT 1 Macduff said:

Westie you're a bit of a star, but I worry about your liver. X

Not many hairs left on the poor dog either

[overtonterrierspirit]

Way to go Westie.

Someone needs to send a film crew out to follow you on the next journey.

[Orinoco]

Dec 16, 2023 10:54:12 GMT 1 overtonterrierspirit said:

Way to go Westie.

Someone needs to send a film crew out to follow you on the next journey.

He should start a you tube channel.

[66738]

A superb tale of woe, woe and more woe. I’m sorry you couldn’t have been taking yourself back home with a more healthy points tally. But I suppose one is better than none. Hope your vehicle is repaired back to full health.

[crux]

Brilliant posts Westie 👍.

I read them in a mixture of late Auntie Dot's Glaswegan accent and Uncle Tommy's soft Islay lilt.

Also, I've been ill on the 5 minute ferry journey across from Islay to Jura before now 🤣. Not sure I could stand a rough crossing all the way to the mainland!

PS: does anybody have a simple trip to or from Islay to Huddersfield? In the 70's & 80's we used to always break down on the way there or back.

[mosher]

Proper love your posts Westie

Huddy Town forever 

[sabailand]

From the euphoria of Sheff utd at home last season to this slightly more deflating trip (football wise), all part of the package Westie im sure you'll agree.