Match Day

This happened a couple days ago ... Yes I know ;( it's just that I have been so hungover and busy since then and now I finally am sober enough to do some writing hahaha . 

One of my favorite pubs near Villa Park is closing down and it would have been a shame if I didn't have a couple pre match pints there so I headed over with all me mates ;) oh yeah you're probably wondering which pub ... We call it The Addies but technically it's The New Adventures pub which is the picture at the top of the page . That day was the last day it was ever opened as it was a match day pub and this was the last regular season match and the next time I'm over it will be a roadway :( but hopefully will reopen again elsewhere as it was a solid Villa pub ... Thank you Addies for all the great memories !!!!

Had to make an appearance at the Social too which is around corner to meet up with another mate Craig Allsop . People here stick to "their" pubs and Craig is always at the Social so I went over for a quickie to say hello with a couple other friends . Just one pint before heading to meet the rest of the guys as all the club chairmen had a meeting at the Lions Loinge so we headed over and then I had to meet my guardian angel :) who brought me my FA Cup Final ticket . Matthew Haywood had a spare ticket that he didn't want to sell to a local because the locals had all year to come to games and the ones that didn't now want tickets when someone like myself does not have that same opportunity so he thought the ticket should go to a foreigner travelling over ....that's me ! So we met outside the lounge and when I got that ticket I had a smile from ear to ear .... Thanks Matthew you are amazing and I still owe ya big time !!!! 

Finally it was game time and we sat in the upper Holte end which is fabulous but unfortunately the game was not that great with Villa losing to bottom feeder Burnley . Ings scored the only goal early and they went into a defensive shell that we could not penetrate but regardless I thought we had our chances and we definite out played them but came out with the loss :( 

After the match I could have stuck around to watch the supporters game but honestly I wasn't too interested and wanted to spend time with my great friend Richard and his family The Pilkington/Taylor's .... Dawn and Ronnie Taylor (yes he is related to Ian Taylor !!!) invited me over for dinner at theirs . Dawn is Richards sister so it was nice to finally meet my mates family ... Super amazing people ! We ordered Chinese and shared stories about Villa while having a few tins of lager . Really it was a good time spending time with locals doing what they do instead of being just a tourist doing what they do :) yeah almost the same but not quite lol ! 

Didn't stay out too late but had quite a few over the day and kinda felt a bit jet lagged or as Richard said , I'm just becoming an old fart lol ... He's probably right . 

Thanks goes out to Simon Leach for organizing everything and special thanks to Richard , Dawn and Ronnie for making me feel so comfortable ! Tomorrow I will write about yesterday and today in 2 separate segments as I have time to on my bus ride to Sheffield to meet the one and only Dazza from the Island Monkeys hockey club ... More adventures to come !