Getting Lost Going Away

[midlandjohn]

I remember travelling to Bradford City for a Third Division game in February 1971 and as usual in those days you looked out for the floodlights and headed for them. However we ended up at Park Avenue home to Bradford Park Avenue, a somewhat delapilated but what once was an impressive ground from Edwardian times. I can still remember the Dolls House in the corner. Bradford PA and lost their place in  the League a couple of years before and were then in the Northern League but were away, however it took us sometime to escape as the car park man insisted we forget the Villa match and watch their Reserves against Fleetwood Town Reserves. Perhaps we should have stayed as Villa lost 1-0 to Bradford City at Valley Parade and I always wondered how their Reserves faired. Nice to see Bradford PA making a come back in the Evo-Stick Premier League but not at their Park Avenue ground.

[midlandjohn]

Other trips include going to Bury in my old mini and following a car with claret & blue scarves out of the window and ending up at Burnden Park for Bolton V West Ham! Which reminds me of a time when going to Bolton's old ground in the 70s with Mom, Dad and my brother and getting lost after the game . After what seemed ages driving around we stopped at some traffic lights and Dad who by this time had turned the air blue shouted at the bloke in the car alongside 'whats the name of this b****y town' and the reply came back in that fabulous Bolton accent 'It's Bolton lad'. I've never seen anyone change their mood so fast as my Dad and we all ended up in fits of lafter.

[Blackcountry Villa]

We got lost going to Sunderland for the 1-1 draw a couple of seasons ago. My mate's old man was driving, we printed the directions off the internet and were following them but they were directing us the wrong way so we stopped at a service station and asked an RAC bloke for directions, it turned out his directions were completely wrong aswell and we ended up in Carlisle. We had to go in the tourist centre, buy an A-Z and ask the old woman in there to draw a line in it to Sunderland from where we were and her directions got us there eventually. We left the house at 9 and got in the ground at 2.30, and to top it all off i had the worst, flattest pint of beer when i got in the ground. 5 and half hours in a car gasping for a pint and i got served what looked like a pint of piss. Oh and the weather was feckin freezing.

[PeterWithesShin]

When we went to Bolton for the semi, we missed the junction you're meant to take for the ground and as we sailed passed it with scarves out the windows, numerous drivers in other cars were pointing in the direction we should have taken, (especially those in the transit van we were over taking, I swear they did it on purpose!).

Off at the next junction and cue numerous pit stops and "Where's the Reebok please mate" type conversations. I swear half of them sent us the wrong way on purpose as well.

[berneboy]

I went to Bradford the next season when we WON 1-0!

It was a great day in a great season.

My friend Kieran and I hitched up from Erdington and were picked up by a businessman in  Wylde Green who took us (with his two friends) to the ground, gave us free tickets for the main stand where we sat near our Bri (soon to make his full debut).

They brought us home too via Ron Wylie's and Vic Crowe's homes - they asked them to come out and meet us. Simply amazing and completely true.

The three chaps were incredibly kind. We never discovered who they were.

[TopDeck113]

I've never got lost going to an away match, but on one occasion in the late 80s when I lived in London and was en route to Villa Park, I got on the wrong train leaving Euston.  In a John Cleese Clockwise moment, I walked through the barrier, down the platform and promptly boarded the train on my right as oppose to the New Street-bound one on my left.

I wasn't particularly bothered by the fact that there were no lights on in the carriages as that was not unusual for British Rail.  I found a forward facing window seat easily enough - there was no one else in the carriage - and started to read the paper in the gloom.  I was though rather worried when the train left 10 minutes ahead of schedule with no one else having got on...

Anyway, to cut a long story short, I ended up in some siding in Willesden, and eventually found a BR employee, who just laughed and said I wasn't the first person to have done that, in fact it was a daily occurrence.  Having then tried, and failed, to find an empty train that was about to go down to Euston, he gave me directions to get to Willesden Underground station from where I returned down to Euston and got the  New Street train an hour-and-half after I'd intended leaving.

I missed the first 20 minutes of a 1-0 home defeat to Wimbledon.  I did wonder why I bothered!

[eamonn]

Great thread. Keep 'em coming.

Especially loved this:

. After what seemed ages driving around we stopped at some traffic lights and Dad who by this time had turned the air blue shouted at the bloke in the car alongside 'whats the name of this b****y town' and the reply came back in that fabulous Bolton accent 'It's Bolton lad'. I've never seen anyone change their mood so fast as my Dad and we all ended up in fits of lafter.

[Chico Hamilton III]

Blundell Park and Ayresome Park.

Made the mistake in both of these trips of travelling without a map. I thought I could just arrive at these God-forsaken towns and follow the floodlight pylons. I didn't even realise at the time that Grimsby don't play their home games in Grimsby at all. They play in Cleethropes I think, about 5 miles away. Nasty little hole wherever it is.

Ayresome Park  the whole of Middlesbrough at the time was dotted with industrial floodlights which were used by all  the factories up there. The football ground was the last set of floodlights I found. Nasty little hole, wherever it is 

[Simon Ward]

Selhurst Park coming from Bradford on the train to London then across the city with a mate of mine. It took us ages and then we must have asked loads of times where the ground was. Not a good idea as even though neither of us were wearing colours it was obvious we had come to see the Villa play and not Palace!

[nodge]

I went to Bradford the next season when we WON 1-0!

It was a great day in a great season.

My friend Kieran and I hitched up from Erdington and were picked up by a businessman in  Wylde Green who took us (with his two friends) to the ground, gave us free tickets for the main stand where we sat near our Bri (soon to make his full debut).

They brought us home too via Ron Wylie's and Vic Crowe's homes - they asked them to come out and meet us. Simply amazing and completely true.

The three chaps were incredibly kind. We never discovered who they were.

Peter File, Roger Boys and Kid Eefidla?

[AV82EC]

This thread is rubbish for me I never get lost.

[usav]

I remember going to Wolves for a pre-season friendly and not having a clue where we were going once we got to the town itself, but thought we would figure it out once there.   Fortunately for us as we got off the main road, we pulled up at a roundabout behind a car full of Wolves fans that we thought we would follow to the ground.  Unfortunately for us, having seen our colours, he lead us on a wild goose chase that led us nowhere near the ground.

[luke25]

When we went to Bolton for the semi, we missed the junction you're meant to take for the ground and as we sailed passed it with scarves out the windows, numerous drivers in other cars were pointing in the direction we should have taken, (especially those in the transit van we were over taking, I swear they did it on purpose!).

Off at the next junction and cue numerous pit stops and "Where's the Reebok please mate" type conversations. I swear half of them sent us the wrong way on purpose as well.

same thing happened to me and my dad for the tommy hitz game, missed the junction, ended up in Bolton town centre n going in numerous shops asking for directions, then at about 3.10 we hear on the radio that Diouf has put them 1 up, finally got to the ground 10 mins before half time and came up the stairs into the stadium literally 5 seconds before McCann equalised, was smack bang behind the goal when Hitz struck the last minute winner, terrible start to the journey but a bloody excellent end

[midlandjohn]

I remember another trip to Millmoor Rotherham around 1972 with my ex wife. We had just joined the M6 north (yep thats right) at Great Barr when some coaches full of Man U fans heading to a home match (well they wouldn't be from Manchester ) were on the inside lane. So I told my ex to put my claret & blue scarf out of the window to show the colours. Typical woman she threw it out instead of trapping it in the window. Then when I saw the turn for Stafford I realised I should have been heading to Yorkshire instead of Lancashire, so a quick detour east and just made it in time but all in vain as we lost 1 - 2.

[Dave Clark Five]

Went to Crystal Palace in early 70s. Bloke in the car knew exactly where to go and was directing the driver. We did have a map and got a bit confused by the route. After a while he says triumphantly 'stop the car and you can put that map away now, were there'. We were there: Craven Cottage!