Wembley Visit

Leamington FC got kicked out of the FA Vase a couple of months ago thanks to Curzon doing their home work on our tactics, subsquently, Curzon got kicked out the next round and never made it to the FA Vase. Some bright spark suggested that a group of us pop down on the train and help support one of the teams at the final. It was an excuse to get to Wembley on the cheap, without a) having to queue up for hours to watch the SugarBabes or b) spend thousands of pounds on black market tickets watching the FA Cup. AFC Totton where playing Truro City at the newly opened ground, and yes, I was excited. Truro were favs to win and their chairman is very amitious with the club's vision. We decided to sit with the Totton fans and support them for the day.

We set off from Leamington Station just after midday - managed to get a special offer on train tickets which worked out to be £11 each, watched the world go by and got off at the Wembley Stadium Station. Magic - as soon as we walked up the stairs you could see the stadium - how perfect is that ?!

After reading it was around 9 quid for burger, chips and a drink - we pottered around Wembley a little to find a quiet pub and a chippy. Turned out, the pub wasnt that quiet, and the chips were starch in hot fat for 3 minutes - but, at least it didnt cost us 9 quid.

We found our entrance, went in, had bags searched, went up 4 flights of stairs, bought programmes for 3 quid - not bad again and went to find out seats. We were sat in the top tier and the stadium looked massive and below us, already a sea of colours were starting to show. The day was a little dull in terms of the weather, but they had the roof open to let in what light was available. Seating was pretty good, I've been to St James Park and you struggle if you have longish legs, but this was actually comfy.

Totton went 1-0 up after half an hour, and were unlucky to go in at half time with the advantage, with Truro pulling one back with a minute to spare. At half time, we popped downstairs to have a gander at the food courts. There was something like 28,000 people there, yet it didnt seem *that* busy, you werent being pushed and pulled around, again like I've seen at St James Park and Villa Park, there wasnt the usual mad rush just before half time to get food in - everyone just went with the flow, like it should be.

The 2nd half saw Truro come out strong, scoring twice in the 2nd half, and Totton trying to walk the ball into the back of the net. The Atmosphere was a little poor, with both sets of fans a little quiet - maybe it was the big venue, maybe it was the weather. Sad to say but, we all wondered, "what if" Leamington had beaten Curzon and got into the final.

Bobby Moore Statue

After the game, we wandered around the stadium a bit, took in the massive Bobby Moore Statue that was just opened last week - and I mean massive. We headed back to the station via an offy and got the train back to Leamington. All a little too easy really. I think in total, including train and ticket - I spent around 30 quid - not bad for a day out and away from the Leamington Goldfish Bowl (tm).