Unique photo

Richard, Archie, Harry and I couldn't resist an official photograph of a unique trophy treble - from the left the domestic trophy (Premiership), then the World Club championship and finally the European (Champions League) trophy:

(Click on photo to enlarge)

Anfield postscript

A quick memento from Anfield - the team sheets:

Merseyside trip - part 3 - Old Trafford

Dave got up at the crack of dawn on Tuesday morning to catch the train from Lime St back to Reading. Colin, Richard and I had a leisurely breakfast and then headed over to our Tuesday night hotel in Chorley. We passed through several interesting areas of Liverpool on the way, including one shop with the interesting name of "Loot" - not so much an advert as an enticement?

Richard and I checked in and we had a coffee with Colin before he headed north (work inflicted!) as Harry and Archie headed south to make up our four at the corporate hospitality at Old Trafford for the second leg of the Carling Cup semi-final.

We had a light lunch and a couple of pints then caught the taxi down to Manchester. We visited the shop and did a complete circle of the ground, passing down the Munich Tunnel on the way. MUFC welcomed their visitors and as Harry's a Derby man, it was appropriate that I took this photo:

In the shop, Archie pointed to his hero:

Entertaining match, with Derby making a bit of a game of it in the second half and delighting their huge travelling support - including Harry.

Magical Mystery Tour part 2

Neil, our guide on the coach is a bit-part actor who appeared as Pete Shotton, John Lennon's childhood best friend, in one of the many Beatles films, In My Life. He told us a story of his association with Paul:

Merseyside trip part 2 - Anfield

Our afternoon MMT was rounded off with a swift pint in the Cavern pub then we dashed back to our hotel, completed a rapid check-in and jumped in a taxi for the short ride to Anfield. It was the full corporate hospitality package but we couldn't wait to get out in to the stadium to sample the atmosphere of a Mersey derby:

When the teams came out, the Kop belted out a spine-tingling You'll Never Walk Alone:

Gerrard scored one of his trademark 30 yard specials and made his traditional groin thrusting slide on his knees towards the corner of the Kop - magic! I had always wondered why he never ran straight to the Kop but towards the corner - I discovered later that he heads towards the area where the W.A.G.'s (and families) sit!

Back in the hospitality suite, I took a couple of shots of some of the trophies and mementoes. Firstly, the European Cup (as it used to be called):

Then the roll of honour:

We had time for a quick pint back at the hotel before retiring for the night.

Merseyside trip - part 1 - Magical Mystery Tour

Our long awaited trip to Merseyside for the Liverpool - Everton match finally took place on Monday. Setanta had switched the match from its original Saturday date, which caused Ken Black to drop out, but Richard Simcox agreed at short notice to join Colin, Dave and I and the four of us made tracks out of Banchory on a cold morning, with the promise of heavy snow en route.

I drove the first leg and we stopped at Happendon services for brunch. This was the sight that greeted us as we headed back to the car:

Dave took over the driving and it was a slow drag over Beattock Summit with only one lane of the motorway in effective use as the snow took hold. Still we made it to our initial destination of Albert Quay in good time to sample the ales at the GBG listed Baltic Fleet - Liverpool's only brewpub. On the way there, we happened to pass Goodison Park and I took this photo from a moving car in the driving wind and rain - hardly a classic for our stadia of the world library, is it?:

I propped my camera up in the pub to take a photo of me in front of the bar and who should wander in to the frame but CK himself!:

After lunch we walked across to Albert Dock and jumped on our Magical Mystery Tour coach. First stop was George Harrison's house:

Right at the end of the street, there just happened to be a BetFred bookie's shop - Richard couldn't resist - and Dave was spotted there too - allegedly only in for a quick p... stop:

The bus stopped off at derelict Strawberry Field:

After that, we passed John Lennon's house - the only one with a blue plaque, which you can only just make out through the steamy windows of the bus:

Macca's house was next:

and here's Colin and I waiting to board our bus again:

At Penny Lane, Dave took this rather interesting shot of me amidst a major hailstorm:

Our final destination was Matthew Street and, of course, we had to pose outside the Cavern Pub and the statue of John:

Colin too:

The names of all the bands who have played the Cavern over the years are engraved in bricks outside:

and the stage of the Cavern Club looked like this:

More to follow about our trip to Anfield.

John Moir 50 and 500 - part 2

Thanks to Jeb, we do have some photographic evidence of the participants in the first match at the Beach - although there only appears to be 11 present?

John Moir 50 and 500

Logistically, the celebrations for John's 50th birthday and 500th match were a bit tricky to organise, but, in the end, it all worked out swimmingly and we had a great evening. This was the first time we had done a Beach/Banchory double header and as I wasn't playing in the former match (and I presume nobody else took a camera along), there are, sadly, no photos of that occasion.



Those who had played at the Beach were far too good for the rest of us who were only playing at DATA - although the final score of 6-5 didn't really reflect the true gap in abilities. We waited until after the match was over to present John with his 50 shirt - the first time a Hibs shirt had been presented (but not the last):

The team photo proved a bit tricky - I couldn't get the camera to balance properly - this was the first attempt - guess who the headless chickens are:

The 2nd attempt wasn't really successful either:

Finally we found a secure location for the camera to sit:

As it was a 50th birthday celebration, we lined up the 50/60 shirts - Jeb's 50 is on the front of his shirt so he could at least legitimately face the camera, but Sharpy is obviously so vain he would go to any lengths not to have his back to the camera like the rest of us:

Andy is also facing the camera and lurking at the rear because he didn't bring along either his 50 or his 60 shirt.

We managed a few beers in the Stag before rolling along to the Derbar for our curry. The last recipient of the 500 shield presented the trophy to John:

Ian also made a speech praising the "legends" who have their name on the shield - there's a bit of background noise in this short video clip:

There was speculation afterwards about how long John would hold the shield. Unless Gary, Rob, Nigel or John McW make a dramatic comeback (it can be done - I dropped out for several years), it rather looks like Ewen might be the next name on the shield - possibly some time in 2013!

Monkey Hangers

A story that may interest Messrs McRae and Moir appeared in the P & J yesterday. Maybe Hartlepool got a bad name unnecessarily, when all along it should have been Peterhead?

Graeme Sharp

Son of Sharpy featured heavily in yesterday's P & J - let's hope they manage to beat Queen's Park in the replay at Hampden next week and get a money-spinning tie at Celtic Park after that.

Nigel flies in

I finally managed to pin Nigel down for half an hour last night and we had a swift pint in the Legion, accompanied by Mr Sharp, who broke the habit of a lifetime and had a midweek beer - maybe that's why he seems to be trying to dodge out of this photo:

CK joined us a bit later on - funny how the "retired" pensioners are the ones that have to stay at their desks for longer? Nigel is now heading for Singapore, then on to Australia, where he will be joined by Andrea and they will celebrate his 50th Down Under next week.

I tried to pin Nigel down for a date for his celebration birthday match and presentation of his strip, but he was a little elusive, although he did confirm he would definitely play, but it may be as late as March when we can organise the match.

Hogmanay and New Year matches

The Hogmanay team photo was taken inside the changing room at DATA:


whereas, the photo from the match on 2nd January was taken on the pitch at DATA: