For some bizarre and unknown reason (justified only by money and the cost of travel) I didn’t go to a single Northern Ireland away match until March 2005, my 25th birthday match in Poland (except the one I’m about to write about and the England away match, both on UK soil, so not really ‘away’ Read more about Sent off for celebrating…Wales 2-2 Northern Ireland (September 2004)[…]
I spent manys a day in Castlerock during the 1990s. Castlerock is an excellent little seaside town on Northern Ireland’s north coast. A number of reasons influenced the fact that I spent Summer and Easter days there. One was with my old school, Bangor Grammar who made a habit of holding summer camp at Guysmere Read more about Castlerock, Northern Ireland, The 1990s[…]
When AFC Bournemouth beat Carlisle United 2-1 in early January 2005, me and three mates decided we would go to the fourth round match no matter where it was. The day after when the draw was made, The Cherries were drawn away to the winners of the Burnley v. Liverpool replay. Naturally this was fantastic Read more about Bournemouth does Burnley…FA Cup Fourth Round – January 2005[…]
Twenty one years after a heroic night on the Spanish coast for a Northern Ireland football team, a white shirted and green shorted male walks through the (almost) Franco-resistant city of Valencia to investigate the demonic effect that a goal by Gerry Armstrong has had on a patriotically Spanish population. I walked through Valencia on Read more about Hunting Down The Ghost Of Luis Casanova: Valencia, Spain, 2003[…]
My first Summer living in Bournemouth, Dorset was still probably my busiest time ever. At the time I had 3 jobs, all running at the same time! But I still loved it, enjoyed every moment of it and look back and take some great memories with it. To go with my part time jobs in Read more about One Mr. Softee with a flake please: FIRST Summer at Best Break, Bournemouth (Summer 2004)[…]
Having lived in Dorset for nigh on five years and devoted so much time to watching and supporting AFC Bournemouth (The Cherries), the time came to support Dorset’s other big team (albeit only for 90 minutes). Weymouth is a beautiful English seaside town, lined with narrow streets, traditional shops, a beach, a pier, some excellent Read more about Oh we do like to be beside the seaside…Weymouth 2-1 Droylsden (15.04.2008)[…]
Northern Ireland’s support was pretty shit in the 1990s. That’s just the way things were. I attended at least one home match a year, and for the last 4 years of the decade, I didn’t miss one. I have fond memories of EVERY trip to Windsor Park to watch my beloved Norn Iron (win, lose Read more about The night the world champions came to town – Northern Ireland 0-1 France (August 1999)[…]
* This is a very old post, I cleared things up a bit better on the Great Exam Heist and the Aftermath on those articles. This story also appears in my book, Backpacking Centurion Volume 1 – Don’t Look Back In Bangor! It was June 1997 and I said my farewells to a school Read more about “I threw a brick through a window” – ending things appropriately in Bangor Grammar School[…]
It was March 2005 and I was in Poland’s capital Warsaw on my 25th Birthday. I had taken a mobile phone with me, but didn’t expect to use it. I turned it on just to check and I had received a text message from Jason Hawkins, head of media at Nerve Media, Bournemouth University. I Read more about National Student TV Awards🏆!! Attending The NASTAs, Loughborough, England🏴Easter 2005[…]
I had visited Toronto in 2001 and even stepped foot inside The Rogers Centre, home of the Toronto Blue Jays Baseball Team (who won the North American title loads of times in the 1990s), but didn’t on that visit see a match. On my second visit to Canada, and Toronto, I decided to get a Read more about Toronto Blue Jays🇨🇦 Versus Cleveland Indians🇺🇸: A Night At The Baseball⚾[…]