53 days later
Des Junior heads to Birkenhead (via Liverpool) on a rainy Tuesday night for the rearranged game at Prenton Park
On a cold and rainy night, a very warm welcome to Tuesday’s edition of The Scarf My Father Wore. So what do we make of the FA Cup draw then? I said to my mates last night: “It’s a good shit draw.” Which makes about as much sense as the regulars in P3 at closing time I know. It’s a tricky one to work out, as there’s pros and cons regarding a trip to The Valley. I’ve been out and about in Stockport today speaking to County fans about the second round draw, which I’ll bring you tomorrow.
Speaking of cold and rainy nights though, this time last week many of us were behind the goal at Tranmere, and that’s where we’re heading for today’s main feature, as I offer a few words from my trip to the Wirral. While we’re on the topic of away days, if you’re heading to Newport on Saturday and fancy answering a few questions for the website, drop me a message.
In other news, there’s not long to go before the World Cup kicks off. Today’s sponsor, Bask, are currently taking table reservations, and there’s not many left for the England games, so pull your finger out if you don’t want to miss out. Full details below, and thanks again to Benji and everyone at Bask.
Enjoy the rest of your Tuesday night. If you’ve enjoyed this edition, please subscribe for free by clicking on the button below.
Des Junior
It’s only 53 days since County were supposed to be at Prenton Park on that Friday night in September, postponed after the death of the Queen the day before. With a slight tweak here and a slight tweak there (here a tweak, there a tweak, everywhere a tweak tweak; sorry, couldn’t resist that), a lazy football writer might have got away with churning out the same material he’d prepared ahead of the original date.
But I haven’t got a cat in hell’s chance of doing that now, have I? From Liz and Kwasi chucking our economy into the bin, to protestors chucking tomato soup over paintings, to Elon Musk chucking his loose change into the purchase of Twitter, so much has happened over the last seven and a half weeks that anything I’d written ahead of Tranmere away last time has to be chucked away as well. And I haven’t even mentioned mortgage rates, energy prices or a comedian sending Twitter into meltdown by playing the keyboard with his/her cock live on Channel 4.
Amidst the chaos, I can offer readers a crumb of continuity, however. On 9 September, even though our Wirral trip had been chucked into a pile of postponements, I still took a train into Liverpool for a few drinks on Matthew Street with John, Peter and Claire, who’d decided to proceed with their afternoon plans, even if there was no football to be enjoyed in the evening. On 1 November, it’s exactly the same train to Liverpool, followed by exactly the same walk to Matthew Street, to meet exactly the same faces from last time, with the addition of Danny, Dave and John’s son Jack for this rearranged game.
The King John is literally empty, so we swiftly head over to Sgt Peppers, which always has a decent atmosphere with over 70 hours of live music every week. It’s packed with Liverpool fans ahead of their Champions League tie with Napoli. We get chatting to Andrey Lilov, founder and CEO of a successful software company in Bulgaria, who flies over to England 5-6 times a year to watch Liverpool. There’s also a group from Chesterfield and Mansfield (not often you find those two in the same sentence without kicking seven shades of semi-colons out of each other) who travel together for Liverpool games. We get chatting to them as well, after the males of the group push their female counterpart in our direction to decipher what football shirts some of our number are wearing. She’s called Lisa, whose bedroom was covered in Man United stuff until she was 11. But then her dad took her to a Liverpool game. “And that was that. There was no going back after I’d experienced the atmosphere at Anfield.”
It’s pissing down outside, so rather than walk to the nearest Merseyrail station, and then face another lengthy walk to the ground from Rock Ferry or Birkenhead Central, we flag down a couple of Alpha Taxis. A short trip through the Birkenhead Tunnel and £25 later, we’re in the Tranmere Rovers Fan Park. Well, I say fan park. It’s more a glorified tent to be honest, but there’s food and drink and shirts and flags and it seems to be popular with Tranmere fans, so fair play to the supporters’ trust for organising it.
I’m afraid I can’t not take umbrage with the Mac ‘n’ Cheese, however. On a cold November evening, I must admit I was looking forward to a cheesy warm-up, even more so after standing in the doorway (waiting for the microwave to work its magic) and seeing Richard Landon battling the wind and the rain to lug his various bits and pieces into the ground, shortly after the team coach had pulled up.
I’ve been getting into Jay Rayner’s restaurant columns in The Guardian recently, who’s a master wordsmith when it comes to bringing his culinary experiences to life. How can I do the same with this Mac ‘n’ Cheese? You know on a Sunday morning you might see a leftover kebab or tray of chips on top of a bin, its remnants floating in rainwater. Well that might be a slight exaggeration, but I did part with £5.50 for a tray of watery pasta, with no hint of cheese whatsoever. Believe me, I completely zoned out at one point, in the same way a baby does when they’re taking a dump; I was straining to locate a glimmer of cheese on my tastebuds, but to no avail. Note to Jay Rayner: if you ever fancy some Mac on the Wirral, stop off at Aldi first to get the ‘n’ Cheese. I’ve heard of BYOB at dining establishments before, I never knew Birkenhead implemented a BYOC policy as well.
As for the game, as always, head in the direction of Gareth Evans or Ian Brown if you want a detailed write-up of the match. I was on the phone to Birkenhead Police for the majority of the first half reporting some missing cheddar.
To be fair the second half was a lot livelier, so much so that I didn’t make any notes, as I was stood behind the goal for the whole of the second half just willing the ball to hit the back of the net. It was just one of those nights though, the sort of night where you have a golden chance to win the game in stoppage time but Sarcevic puts the ball in New Brighton.
Alas, you can’t always have a goal with your match ticket. In Birkenhead, you can’t always have Cheese with your Mac. But you can always rely on 1,735 County fans in the Cowshed for a decent night out. Our football club are no longer without a place in the 92, and tonight’s another reminder that we’re back where we belong. I don’t stay cheesed off for long.
Book a table at Bask for England’s World Cup games
Whether it’s tucking into a tasty treat from Ate Days A Week alongside a Stockport Gin before the game, or dancing to the tunes of DJ Gareth Brooks after it, many County fans have already enjoyed the splendid matchday experience created by the team at Bask. And now you can do the same for England’s World Cup games as well (plus all the other belters like Tunisia v Australia if you fancy it). Table reservations are now being made, which is certainly well worth doing, to follow all the action from Qatar on Bask’s brand new 75” screens. Email hello@thisisbask.co.uk to book.