This was the biggest day in the recent history of Brid. FC United were borne out of the fans dislike of the Glazers buy out of their team – Man Utd, so they went it all alone. Average home gates of 2200 and an away following that most league clubs would be proud of. Some of the banter and work for getting ready for this fixture started months ago – i’d made contact on the FC Utd forum and passed on details of hotels etc back in September, and even then, there was a massive head count of people really looking to a day / weekend at the seaside.
What does it mean for teams like ours ? Well for clubs like Brid, it means survival, as awful as that sounds, but its a fact of life, having a crowd in excess of 1,000 means the same as 9 average home games, 9 times the amount of beer and food consumed.
All in all, it turned out to be one of the best days at football that i had had in many years. The football became secondary to listening to the singing from the FC faithful, drinking beer and chatting to them. Mid way through the second half, I realised I hadnt watched any footy for about 15 minutes (glad i didnt coz we conceded during this period). Many of the FC fans told me that, yes they’d been to FA Cup finals, European cup finals, massive derby games, but at the end of the day, it was days / games like those at Brid that brought home the true value of football in this country – having a beer, cheering the team on, in a friendly, jovial environment.
I nipped into the bar before the game, and it was packed (12 o’clock), with FC fans getting ready to watch the Arse v the Mancs on Sky. After the game, it was heaving, but plenty of singing, even some locals singing the Leeds “Marching on together” theme to gee up the atmosphere, but it only spurred on the visitors to be louder.
The aftermath on the Brid forum was a tad lackluster to say the least, the FC forum was full of praise of the locals, hosts, hoteliers and fans for a great day / weekend away.
A big thanks to the Brid chairman and committee for organizing a great day out, the local & visiting fans for mixing so well – it was truly a brilliant day out. Perhaps we’ll twin with FC and have a pre-season game over here one weekend in July !!!
