Suffolk Shrimper In Dorset
Director⭐⭐🦐
Completely spent up from an endulgent trip to the LDV (limo) and subsequent away trips, the Suffolk Shrimpers (my birthday boy 12 year old son & I) had to miss out on this one.
I consoled myself in promising that if we won we would spend the money we didn't have but saved in not going on a season ticket (the first for me since '77).
We had lined up the Kings Head in Hadleigh, Suffolk to watch the game. Not being wholly confident they would see Southend as compulsive viewing I checked twice in the week that they would show it, and in a call at 1pm today re-confirmed that the game would be shown. When we arrived at 2.30pm a Jock in a Celtic top was propping up the bar watching his team warm up for the Scottish Cup Final. I flipped - the Jock had cleared it with one of the bar staff earlier that day to watch his team, but playing the emotional card (son's birthday, Celtic have been in more finals than us, etc) he kindly relented. Buying him a couple of pints helped (which he downed very quickly and cleared off). A nice relaxing start to a nice relaxing ocassion.
So we watched the game amongst a few sullen Tractor Boys, tense to the last, jumping for joy when Freddy scored, staring in disbelief when Juppy did, and bellowing with sheer joy at the end. Blew some of the 'savings' on a bottle of champagne, and cheered all the way home. One well pleased 12 year old with his birthday too, having had his first game seven years ago when we lost on the last day of the season and sunk out of what is now League One. He can hold his head up high when school starts after half term, and remind the Ipswich Town crew (most of the school - bar the odd Man U fan its fairly solid Tractor) we are now on the way to catching them up.
Another season therefore ends. And after a long long time in the "Rochdale League" it ends on a high. I have been at past promotion parties, not this one maybe, and gutted we were not in Cardiff, though in this small corner of Suffolk the letter is already sorted to ensure our presence for next season.
Get in there. Up the Blues
I consoled myself in promising that if we won we would spend the money we didn't have but saved in not going on a season ticket (the first for me since '77).
We had lined up the Kings Head in Hadleigh, Suffolk to watch the game. Not being wholly confident they would see Southend as compulsive viewing I checked twice in the week that they would show it, and in a call at 1pm today re-confirmed that the game would be shown. When we arrived at 2.30pm a Jock in a Celtic top was propping up the bar watching his team warm up for the Scottish Cup Final. I flipped - the Jock had cleared it with one of the bar staff earlier that day to watch his team, but playing the emotional card (son's birthday, Celtic have been in more finals than us, etc) he kindly relented. Buying him a couple of pints helped (which he downed very quickly and cleared off). A nice relaxing start to a nice relaxing ocassion.
So we watched the game amongst a few sullen Tractor Boys, tense to the last, jumping for joy when Freddy scored, staring in disbelief when Juppy did, and bellowing with sheer joy at the end. Blew some of the 'savings' on a bottle of champagne, and cheered all the way home. One well pleased 12 year old with his birthday too, having had his first game seven years ago when we lost on the last day of the season and sunk out of what is now League One. He can hold his head up high when school starts after half term, and remind the Ipswich Town crew (most of the school - bar the odd Man U fan its fairly solid Tractor) we are now on the way to catching them up.
Another season therefore ends. And after a long long time in the "Rochdale League" it ends on a high. I have been at past promotion parties, not this one maybe, and gutted we were not in Cardiff, though in this small corner of Suffolk the letter is already sorted to ensure our presence for next season.
Get in there. Up the Blues