Source: FOOTYMAD
Drayton Park Update: Sunday, Bloody Sunday
There was so much to try and remember on the Sunday of the Brazilian adventure I am sure I will have missed lots out. The big day has finally arrived. Scotland will be meeting Brazil at the Emirates with a 2pm kick-off and I am expecting 600 fans to arrive at the Drayton Park which opens at 10am. On Saturday evening I left the pub an hour after closing time of midnight after making sure one fan, who had over-indulged to say the least, was safely snuggled up in the pub kitchen. The clocks had sprung forward that night so I was heading to my sisters for a few hours sleep before planning to be back at the pub for 9am. I woke up worrying about the pub's unexpected 'guest' and sent a text to Mark, the landlord, asking if all was well. No text reply as I walked back to the pub with trepidation thinking all sorts of tragedies which had be-fallen the poor guy in the night. However, all the worry was wasted as when I arrived, Gerard, who stays in the pub, brought me the good news that the boy had woken up, freshened up, was bought breakfast and headed on his way safe and well - with the name of his hotel now brought to mind. Phew. With a long day stretching out ahead, we had to get moving with re-stocking the Irn-bru displays and making sure there was enough plastic glasses available for the day. Part of the license secured by Mark is that only plastic glasses can be used on match days. I was glad of that later in the day as the drink consumed had a numbing effect on a number of people's ability to hold onto their drinks. I would not have wanted to pick up glass fragments of that carpet. The fans started arriving at 9:30am with faces peering in acting as if they had crossed a desert to get their first drink of the week. All in good humour of course, as the sun was shining, the ground was two minutes away and there was the occasional Brazilian woman strolling past to keep them occupied. It was my job to be on the door with the security guys to check the tickets and ensure those who had paid got. It was also my job to tell those who had not got a ticket for the pub where the nearest one they could get into was. I nearly lost my voice due to the number of times I had to point groups to the Bailey on Holloway Road. The first hour passed in a blur of fans pouring in with the occasional distraction of pre-booked tickets being collected. I had lost count of how many people had gone in and it was only when I tried to get info my camera that I realised I needed a bigger pub. It was just wall to wall bodies facing the bar. I knew I had to be at the Emirates by 1pm to pick up my press pass etc so was keeping an eye on time. But there was just so many other things to keep an eye on. Fans were trying to pay to get in; security found a couple of guys sharing a toilet with some white powder; the Sun trying to get an ex-Miss England and her partner into the bar as a 'favour'; taking pictures for Irn-Bru of their ice-cream van among other things. Ryan Milo (AKA DJBlues) was due to entertain the troops from 11am and Mark was looking worried that there was no-show by 11:15. However, all was well shortly afterwards, as when I next struggled into the bar Ryan was there fighting the good fight of playing tunes that were not by the Proclaimers no matter what people were asking for.As time was moving on I wanted to make sure everything was OK before I moved off to the Emirates for my free lunch; free seat and free programme in one of the best seats in the house. I did a quick tour of the three bars and beer garden. The upstairs bar was a more sedate affair as we had designated this as a family area so those youngsters among the fans would not be lost in the crowd. The beer gardens was hooching with punters from all over the place with a couple of flags decorating the fence panels. The main bars were just going mental with DJBlues music getting folk in the mood for a song or three at the ground. Just before I headed to the Emirates I stood on my soap box in the three main areas and thanked everybody for coming and invited them back after the game. Thankfully for Mark and his bank balance, they and a lot more did just that.
