Football Crazy - James Curran

Knowing the 'nature of the beasts', last nights surprise outing was going to be both interesting and/or unusual, it was to be both in my book. All aboard the Range Rover at 15:00 with

DARYL navigating while HUGH took the controls. As we cut off the M27 and joined the M3 there was a thought that we may be on our way to visit one of the larger Hampshire cities, Winchester, Guildford etc, but then turning on to the M25 (London Orbital as it were) it seemed far more likely our destination would be in the capital? Parking in something of a 'backstreet', most of the other thoroughfares had signs banning parking 'during events', whatever that referred to,

but spotting the hundreds of people spilling from the WEMBLEY PARK UNDERGROUND STATION the realisation dawned on me.

Could we really be going to Webmley Stadium?

Well if we weren't, we were walking up the wrong road!

Were we going to see England play San Marino in a European Cup Knockout Round and was I at last going to see

the inside of arguably the 'greatest' stadium in the world? The (Pseudo) BEATLES were there to greet us

as we showed our tickets and moved on towards security. There was some concern about the size of my camera and lens, mostly as it was thought I was a member of the Press without the required documentation, but all was soon resolved.

By now I was expecting to see a spectacular sight, but this building is quite simply 'unbelievable'! I'll let the photos tell the story



So far, so good.



Once inside the players were going about their pre-match warm-up,

as the 2 Nations Flags were brought out by the military

and unfurled

as the Ground Staff added their final touches.

A few minutes to look around at the TV cameras etc

before the Gladiators took the field.

The formalities over

Goalkeeper JOE HART took up station with his can of Lager

As other team members discussed final tactics.

The 'Match Ball' was delivered by a member of HM Royal Marines who abseiled from the roof



ran across the pitch with the precious cargo

and delivered it to the Referee.

The score was even when the first incident occurred as

THEO WALCOTT was grounded by a particularly vicious tackle

which, after much attention from the Medical Staff

effectively ended his game.

As a result the Yellow Card was raised

and a 'penalty' awarded

and 'put away' by England Team Captain WAYNE ROONEY

to the delight of his Team Mates.

Before 'half time' Danny Welbeck scored a second after which

a number of our Olympic and Paralympic hero's graced the sacred turf

much to the delight of the fans.

SECOND HALF KICK OFF.

WAYNE ROONEY (Manchester United)

LEIGHTON BAINES (Everton)

AARON LENNON (Tottenham Hotspur)

ALEX OXLADE-CHAMBERLIN (Arsenal)

DANNY WELBECK Manchester United)

MICHAEL CARRICK (Manchester United)

PHIL JAGIELKA (Everton)

JONJO SHELVEY (Liverpool)

GARY CAHILL (Chelsea)

KYLE WALKER (Tottenham Hotspur)

TOM CLEVERLEY (Manchester United)

That's the 'FOURTH',

much to the crowds delight

but there was one more to make it England 5 v San Marino 0 before we left for the drive home. I cannot describe what a treat this was and thank Hugh and Daryl with ALL I CAN!