Thursday 17 April 2014

The game on 12th April 2014


Wigan Athletic had emailed me and asked for my phone number. I was told that their club reporter would contact me to run a feature on their website on our blog in the run up on FA Cup week – this never happened.
This was mine and the Giant Killing Adventure’s first visit to the new Wembley Stadium. It was semi-final weekend so I picked a team of Big Guns to join me on our trip to the nation’s capital.  My last trip to London had been a fantastic experience and I was very impressed by Arsenal’s stadium, their staff and the friendliness of their fans – but I’d made that trip alone.  This time previous blog guests Tim Webster and Mr Tops (aka Lee Topping) joined our party as pundit and statistician. We had a blog guest debutant called Adam Webster (aka Tim’s brother and boyfriend of previous blog guest Zoe) and he was designated driver for our journey.

           It was a 17:07 kick off and we had a lot of miles to cover.  I drove Mr Tops from his house on the Fylde coast as we travelled down the M61 to Manchester.  It was here that we met up with the other two and began our journey via Morrison’s for bacon butties and a sandwich platter. The journey began as we chatted lively and excitedly about the prospects of the day.  The journey was mainly based on eating as much as possible as we eat the sandwich platter; 4 steak pies in support of Wigan; various bags of crisps; chocolate biscuits and mini cheddars. Traffic ran smoothly as we chose the toll road and we had one quick stop off at Jack Starbucks.  

                We arrived in London at 15:00hrs but it took at least another hour to crawl through the heavy traffic and negotiate our way to Wembley Stadium.  Our tickets were corporate tickets and they were in the Wigan end, so we had pre-booked parking in the Wigan car park.  However, the signs for the car park were written on postage stamps and it took us another 30mins to find our yellow car park – which happened to be an Arsenal car park.  We passed the stringent security by saying ‘yes’ when the attendant asked ‘are you Arsenal fans?’  Technically we were neutral fans but there wasn’t a neutral car park or end for neutral fans.

               


We walked up the Wembley way as the excitement and atmosphere built

 
Some Wigan fans were playing drums and dancing outside the stadium
We got inside the ground and Tim and Adam spent nearly £20 on Cheeseburger and chips, with a giant coke. Me and Mr Tops had 2 pints of lager for £10.

 


Our tickets were in Entrance G (hand model Tim Webster)

 

The stadium looked awesome and the teams came out to line up before kick off

 
96 seats had been left open and there was supposed to be a minutes silence in respect of the fans that died at Hillsborough. The Giant Killing Adventure has a lot of respect for the fans and their families and despite what team one supports we think it is important to show respect to rival clubs during these occasions (whether it’s Hillsborough, The Bradford City Fire, The Munich Disaster or any other case in which human life was lost).  This is why we were concerned that two Arsenal fans stood behind us showed no respect and talked through the whole minute’s silence/applause. We were affectively in a corporate area but it was supposed to be the Wigan end of the stadium. We have always showed respect for the other supporters in all grounds during our 13 game journey. In the last round I behaved as an Arsenal fan as I was in the Arsenal end of the ground. Previous to that I had been an Everton fan and a Stevenage fan and a Doncaster fan and a Stourbridge fan etc. In all these games I have effectively been neutral but I was showing respect to my fellow football supporters.

                At half time Mr Tops and I had another 2 pints of larger for £5.

The Wigan stand appeared to be 90% Wigan fans and the Arsenal fans showed respect for this apart from the 2 guys behind us who had previously talked through the minute’s silence/applause.  They were singing Arsenal songs, so when Wigan scored Mr Tops and I turned to them and cheered. Mr Tops tried to shake one of their hands and this was when the Giant Killing Adventure witnessed its first ‘trouble’ in all 1470 minutes of football. The Arsenal fan that had talked all the way through the minutes silence pushed Mr Tops in the face; knocked off his glasses and threatened him with violence for the next 10 minutes. This got worse when Arsenal equalised as he cheered excessively and called me and Mr Tops a naughty word beginning with C and rhyming with hunts. Other Wigan fans in the area were annoyed and he told them all to F**K off and that he had every right to be where he was. I was not disputing his right to be where he was – after all, I was not a Wigan fan either – I just felt he should have kept quiet instead of trying to antagonise a large group of Wigan fans.  There were plenty of other Arsenal fans in that area but they managed to control themselves. In the end a steward moved him 4 rows back but he still called us all ‘the scum of the earth’ for getting him removed.  I know for a fact from the previous round that the majority of Arsenal fans are friendly so I won’t let this one person ruin my opinion.

 

The guy in the black T-shirt is the one that had no respect for Liverpool, Wigan or the reputation of Arsenal fans as a whole   

As for the game – it was an even match until penalties came along and Wigan fell apart and they lost 4-2.

 

The Wigan players celebrated their excellent run in the FA Cup for the second year in a row

 


The fans started to leave the stadium

 

Arsenal fans sang anti Tottenham songs and cheered outside the stadium to celebrate their victory – they are heading to the FA Cup final on 17th May.


More Arsenal fans joined in the celebrating



Wembley Stadium is lit up at night
 
We crawled our way out of the stadium through tight traffic and had had another great day on our Giant Killing Adventure.  We were tired, it was dark and the energy in the car was low as we yawned our way up the motorway.  This time we didn’t take the toll road and it was a mistake.  The M6 was scattered with road works around Birmingham and we crawled slowly and were taken on a massive detour off the motorway and onto country roads – we stopped off for coffee and doughnuts, more chocolate biscuits and mini cheddars were eaten and I felt tired and stuffed. We arrived in Manchester at around 1am and of course the first thing that Tim did was nip outside and buy a curry – I told you that he likes to eat!

I will be saying goodbye to Wigan and the DW Stadium for 2013/14.

I forgot to buy a program – it’s the first time this has happened and I am annoyed.
Ticket price – free as they were corporate.
Attendance – 82, 185
Excellent Geeky Stats time…    

RIP Stadiums and teams from the Giant Killing Adventure – 17th April 2014

RIP Team
RIP Stadium
St Helens Town
Brocstedes Park
Ashton Athletic
Brocstedes Park
Marine FC
Arriva Stadium
Lancaster City FC
Giant Axe Stadium
Curzon Ashton
Tameside Stadium
Workington AFC
Borough Park
Biggleswade Town FC
The Carlsberg Stadium
Stourbridge FC
The War Memorial Ground
Doncaster Rovers
Keepmoat Stadium
Stevenage
The Lamex Stadium
Swansea City
The Liberty Stadium
Everton FC
Goodison Park
Wigan Athletic
DW Stadium

The Giant Killing Adventure number of fans – 17th April 2014

Team
Stadium
Round
Fans
Arsenal v Wigan
Wembley Stadium
Semi-Final
82,185
Arsenal
Emirates Stadium
6th Round Proper
59,719
Everton FC
Goodison Park
5th Round Proper
31,498
Stevenage FC
Lamex Stadium
4rd Round Proper
6913
Doncaster Rovers
Keepmoat Stadium
3rd Round Proper
3899
Stevenage FC
Lamex Stadium
2nd Round Proper
2160
Stourbridge FC
War Memorial Athletic Ground
1st Round Proper
1603
Stourbridge FC
War Memorial Athletic Ground
3rd Qualifying
633
Workington AFC
Borough Park
4th Qualifying
519
Curzon Ashton
Tameside Stadium
2nd Qualifying
302
Lancaster City FC
Giant Axe
2nd Qualifying
249
Marine FC
Arriva Stadium
1st Qualifying
223
Curzon Ashton
Tameside Stadium
Preliminary
101
St Helens Town
Brocstedes Park
Extra Preliminary
71
Ashton Athletic
Brocstedes Park
Extra Preliminary
58

 The Giant Killing Adventure League table for FA prize money – 17th April 2014

Team
Prize money/Round
Total Winnings
Arsenal
£360,000 6th Round Proper
£900,000 semi-final winner
£1,260,000
Wigan Athletic
£450,000 semi-final losers
£450,000
Everton FC
£90,000 4th Round Proper
£180,000 5th Round Proper
£270,000
Stevenage FC
£27,000 2nd Round Proper
£67,500 3rd Round Proper
£94,500
Stourbridge FC
£7,500 3rd Qualifying Round
£12,500 4th Qualifying Round
£18,000 1st Round Proper
£38,000
Curzon Ashton
£1,925 Preliminary Round
£3,000 1St Qualifying Round
£4,500 2nd Qualifying Round
£9,925
Ashton Athletic
£1,500 Extra Preliminary Round
£1,500

 Extra Preliminary Round £277,500 was paid in prize money (185 winners).
Preliminary Round £308,000 was paid out (160 winners).
1stQualifying Round £348,000 was paid out (116 winners).
2nd Qualifying Round £360,000 was paid out (80 winners).
3rdQualifying Round £300,000 was paid out (40 winners).
4thQualifying Round £400,000 was paid out (32 winners).
1st Round Proper £720,000 was paid out (40 winners).
2ndRound Proper £540,000 was paid out (20 winners).
3rdRound Proper £2,160,000 was paid out (32 winners).
4thRound Proper £1,440,000 was paid out (16 winners).
5thRound Proper £1,440,000 was paid out (8 winners).
6thRound Proper £1,440,000 was paid out (4 winners).
Semi-final £2,700,000 was paid out (2 winners and 2 losers).
Total Prize money so far equals £12,433,500

The Giant Killing Adventure Program Price league table (cheapest first) – 17th April 2014

Team
Program Cost
Lancaster City FC 01st October
£1.50
Curzon Ashton 31st August, 28th September
£1.60
St Helens Town 17th August
£2.00
Marine FC 14th September
£2.00
Stourbridge FC 12th October
£2.00
Doncaster Rovers 4th January
£2.00
Workington AFC 26th October
£2.50
Stourbridge FC 9th November
£2.50
Stevenage FC 7th December 25th January
£3.00
Everton FC 15 February
£3.00
Arsenal 8th March
£3.00
Arsenal V Wigan 12th April
?

 The Giant Killing Adventure Goal Scorers – 17th April 2014

Matt Warburton 3 (Curzon Ashton)
Ryan Rowe 3 (Stourbridge FC)
Luke Benbow 3 (Stourbridge FC)
Steven Naismith 3 (Everton FC)
Chris McDonagh 2 (Curzon Ashton)
Simon Lakeland 2 (Curzon Ashton)
Adam Gilchrist 2 (Ashton Athletic)
Jamie Oliver 2 (Stourbridge FC)
Will Richards 2 (Stourbridge FC)
Francois Zoko 2 (Stevenage FC)
Olivier Giroud   2 (Arsenal)
Per Mertesacker 1 (Arsenal)
Mesut Ozil      1 (Arsenal)
Mikel Arteta       1 (Arsenal)
Jordi Gomez    1 (Wigan)
Romelu Lukaku 1 (Everton FC)
Leighton Baines 1 (Everton FC)
Lacina Traore 1 (Everton FC)
John Heitinga 1 (Everton FC)
Magaye Gueye 1 (Everton FC)
Jonathan de Guzman 1 (Swansea City)
Peter Hartley 1 (Stevenage FC)
Darius Charles 1 (Stevenage FC)
Harry Forrester 1 (Doncaster Rovers)
Liam Wakefield 1 (Doncaster Rovers)
Lucas Atkins 1 (Stevenage FC)
Luke Freeman 1 (Stevenage FC)
Filipe Morais 1 (Stevenage FC)
Phil McLuckie 1 (Workington AFC)
Chris Rowney 1 (Curzon Ashton)
Ryan Brooke 1 (Curzon Ashton)
Will Jones 1 (Marine FC)
Sam Barnes 1 (Marine FC)
Neil Weaver 1 (St Helens Town)
Greg Harrison 1 (St Helens Town)
Nathan Ward 1 (Ashton Athletic)
Mark Jackson 1 (Lancaster City FC)
Evan Key 1 (Biggleswade Town FC)
Neil Marshall 1 OG (Lancaster City FC)

 
The Giant Killing Adventure League table – 17th April 2014

Team
Won
Drawn
Goals For
Goals Against
GD
Points
Curzon Ashton
3
1
10
6
4
10
Stourbridge FC
3
0
10
6
4
9
Arsenal
2
0
8
3
5
6
Everton FC
2
0
7
5
2
6
Stevenage FC
2
0
7
6
1
6
Ashton Athletic
1
1
3
6
-3
4
St Helens Town
0
1
2
3
-1
1
Lancaster City FC
0
1
1
2
-1
1
Doncaster Rovers
0
0
2
3
-1
0
Marine FC
0
0
2
4
-2
0
Wigan Athletic
0
0
2
4
-2
0
Swansea City
0
0
1
3
-2
0
Workington AFC
0
0
1
3
-2
0
Biggleswade Town FC
0
0
1
4
-3
0

 So far the Giant Killing Adventure has reported on 1,470 minutes of football, £370 on the turnstiles, 190,133 fans, 58 goals, 4 pints of larger (£20) 4 pints of bitter (£9.90), 1 pint of Guinness (£3.10), 1 pint of cider (£3), 3 70p cups of tea, 15 £1 cups of tea, 2 £7 meal deals, 1 £1.10 cup of tea (large), 2 £1.50 mochas, 2 70p cans of coke, 2 £3.50 cheeseburgers, 2 £1.80 chips’n’curry sauce, 2 £1.20 chips, 1 £1 chips, 1 £1.80 chips and gravy, 1 £3 Bacon roll, 2 £1.60 pies, 2£1.50 pies, 3 £1.50 handmade Balti eggs, 1 pork, stilton with apple and ginger chutney pie, 1 ham and pease pudding stottie, 2 £16.50 Lobsters, 4 2-4-1 cocktails, 1 weekend in London, 1 hectic tube journey, 1 Lebanese meal, various Gin and tonics, 2 bottles of red wine,  1 City Break, 1 Sandy picnic battle, 1 Zoe food mountain, 1 Morrison’s sandwich platter, 1 pack of mini Cheddars, 5 website promises (Marine, Curzon, Stourbridge, Workington and Biggleswade), various Twitter retweets (too many to keep track of from clubs, fans and supporters clubs), 3 lower-league-victories, 1 relationship breakdown and the journey has travelled 1577.6 miles from the FA Cup’s current home in Wigan.

 

Join me again to find out about Hull FC. The FA Cup final between Arsenal and Hull is on 17th May 2013.

 

Don’t forget our facebook page https://www.facebook.com/thegiantkillingadventure

 

 

 

                              

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