Last Updated on: 25th mars 2022, 09:37 am
It’s almost six years since I was last in Billericay, so it was nice to finally return here. But the first match was played away, and that was a bit of a trip!
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I like to go to away games if possible as well, even if it is best at home turf. But when I plan to get a couple of matches, which usually means one match on Saturday and the other on Tuesday, then one of them is usually an away match.
Then I get to see more of England, and visit places that are often outside the typical tourist trail. A win-win situation! I have been to places that the average Norwegian has probably not even heard of because of this. And most places have been a nice experience to visit. I like to take a train/bus one or two hours earlier than I would have done if I was just going straight to the ground. Then I have time to look around a bit, visit a pub or two, and thus make it a little sightseeing in addition to the football match itself – which of course is the main goal anyway!
I have therefore visited places like Tonbridge, Bishop’s Stortford, Aldershot, Ashford, Havant, Pitsea, Hemel Hempstead and Purfleet. Places an average norwegian tourist probably have never heard about. But of course I have seen most home games!
This time the first game was away against Hungerford in Berkshire. I was basically going to take a train there for about an hour. The train also left Paddington, close to where I was staying during my stay. But as in Norway, there is bus-by-train in England. So there was a train to Newmarket and then a bus to Hungerford. The bus trip was an experience in itself. It went through narrow village streets and not exactly in a straight line … At a place called Kintbury we stopped and waited for almost ten minutes for the bus that came the opposite way, simply because the road was not wide enough for the rest of the trip – and through Kintbury itself – so that two buses could pass each other!
But we arrived in the end, even though it took a total of almost an hour and a half. In Hungerford, I walked around in the streets and took a shortcut through a park area to reach the Dun River, which is part of the Kennet and Avon canal that runs through the city, and which I have seen in the TV-series «Great Canal Journeys «. This is where the narrowboat «The Rose Of Hungerford» is located, which I wanted to take a closer look at.
Had I been there a month later, I could have taken a sightseeing tour with it, but the season has not started yet. However, I talked to several people who were on board and who had been on a training trip for volunteers. If Billericay manages to stay up, maybe I go to Hungerford once more! 🙂
Then I went through the main street while I looked around a bit and used Google Maps to get to the football club itself, whose pitch was a bit hidden in a cozy neighborhood. I was out a little earlier than the supporter bus from Billericay and started to talk with the guy who sold tickets and match program. He reckoned that I was a Billericay supporter since I was an unknown face and had – not surprisingly – heard in my English that I was probably not from Essex, so I had to tell that I came from Norway and was a Billericay supporter .. I think he thought I was a little bit crazy … 🙂
Then Iwent into the clubhouse where I bought a Guinness and placed myself at a table. Just as nice service behind the counter as in the ticket booth! About a quarter of an hour later, the Billericay supporters came and several familiar faces came up to me, people I had not seen in six years! It was incredibly nice to meet them again, and I think the joy of reunion was just as great on both sides!
But none of them were particularly optimistic ahead of the match. Hungerford is much further up the table and was close to qualifying for promotion.
But we had a little surprise coming! At the break we led 3-0 after three goals – all from corners! The fans were almost in a state of shock and did not dare to hope that it would last in the second half! But there it continued with a penalty and 4-0 before the home team got a consolation goal. We won 4-1 and the supporters were almost euphoric – which also included me! At least I had a very nice trip back to London – and I can imagine that the supporter bus had just as high a mood!
For me it was also special since I have not seen the team win since February 17, 2007! I have been very unlucky with the choice of matches and the team’s form the times I have been over, and since the previous victory in 2007 I have seen the team play a draw six times and lose eight times … So this victory was very welcome too me!
Billericay Town is unfortunately solid placed at the bottom of the table, but with three points in this match, three points that many did not expect to get, the hope was ignited that it was possible to reverse the trend and maybe really fight to avoid relegation.
The next day I was ready for my first visit to Billericay since April 2, 2016! This time to see a match with the women’s team – where my statistics are even worse than the men’s team. I’ve only seen five games with the women’s team, and they have lost all of them … But I have not seen them play since 2008, and there has been a quite a development since then.
First of all, they have advanced further in the league system, and unlike the men’s team, they are challenging for league title and promotion in their division – and have only lost one game in the league, for the one team that is ahead of them on the table. So I figured the chance of seeing a win was pretty big this time! Maybe bigger than watching the men’s team win. At least I thought so before I left from Norway …
The journey to Billericay took almost three times longer than the half-hour train ride it usually takes. The train did not leave Liverpool Street Station, so it was a half-hour underground ride to Newbury Park, then a half-hour bus ride to Shenfield and then a seven-minute train trip to Billericay … And the same on the return trip!
I chose to walk from the station, even though it is a long way for me as an amputee and with a crutch, but I wanted to «soak up the atmosphere» in Billericay again, and therefore went through High Street, down London Road, into Tye Common Road and then Blunts Wall Road.
In High Street I noticed that the record store Slipped Discs had moved to where there used to be a bookstore (Storytellers) – then they have at least got a little more space. It also looked as if a new building had been built on one side of the street – or at least newly renovated – but otherwise everything seemed to be as it was six years ago.
Anyway, I got to the ground and was well received by several familiar faces and shown around the course New Lodge by Rob in the supporters club. New Lodge has had a pretty big development in these six years with refurbished and expanded clubhouse, new stands and artificial turf! In fact, two artificial turf pitches as artificial turf has also been laid on the training pitch next to the main pitch.
But enough about that, the atmosphere at New Lodge is created the supporters and the volunteers – the essence of any football club – and that was the good, old one. Felt very welcome, as usual! Very nice to meet Kim Coster again too.
I was back at New Lodge on Tuesday – then by regular train and not bus! First I stopped by The Crown – where I met several of those who were in Hungerford. The pub actually had a two for one offer! So I was, once again, treated to beer by Ryan – two Guinness for the price of one! No wonder I smiled broadly this evening … We ended up taking a cab to New Lodge.
There was a new happy reunion with several supporters who had not been in the away game, and who were a bit more optimistic this time, although they did not quite dared to believe that we could also win against St. Albans City.
But what a match! We fought like lions and finally got the winning goal in overtime in the second half! For some ecstatic scenes both among the players and the supporters!
Of course I visited the club shop, where I greeted Jane who was also there the first time we visited in 1997! I bought a new player shirt to my collection (is now up to 11 in total plus some t-shirts and sweaters), a scarf (the last they had, Jane had kept it for me when she heard I was coming!) and a book with photographs by club photographer Nicky Hayes (who takes the pictures from the matches that we are allowed to use here on the website.) I had planned to drop by again during the break, but forgot.
I was called «Lucky Charm» after the Hungerford match, and when we won the second match in a row, Twitter went hot with invitations to seize my passport so I could stay there for the rest of the season … That discussion also went in the clubhouse. .. 🙂 And believe me, I would have stayed if I could!
It ended up being a pretty late night at the clubhouse and a taxi was called for me so that I could catch the last train back to London. It was so late that it was less than ten minutes left when the cab arrived, but it went just fine. I had just come down the stairs to the platform when the train came!
It was great to be back again, and I quickly realized that I had missed this more than I thought. So there is no doubt about that I will return again as soon as possible! In December it’s exactly 25 years since I came to New Lodge for the first time, and that has to be celebrated. I also plan for a trip a little earlier in the autumn.
Billericay Town also won the next match, against fourth-placed Oxford City, last Saturday. So now we have won three games in a row!
It is also quite fantastic that the supporters decided to have me with them in that match as well. They did this by taking a picture of me – probably from Facebook – and made a cardboard figure of me that they had in the stands!!! What a gang! 🙂 And we won then too! 🙂 I was there in spirit and as a cardboard!
Personally, I am also very happy that my statistics when it comes to matches ended as I had hoped before the trip. I had seen 10 wins, 12 draws and 12 losses in the matches I had won so far, and after this visit I stand with 12-12-12!
Editor’s note: I have to admit that I’ve done this the easy way and used Google Translate to translate this very long norwegian article into english. But since I know that such a translation not always looks good, I have gone through this manually and done some corrections. I have also removed some parts which is more of interest for norwegians.
