Route: Wembley Way
Area: North London
Date of walk: 13th April 2014
Who: Andrew Gilly James Nicola David and Rob
Weather: Sunshine all day
I must firstly apologise to regular visitors to this site: today’s walk features no photos of cute red squirrels or views from mountain tops, in fact it doesn’t really feature a walk at all. But for anyone who has a passing interest in football matters, there’s a journey worth recounting
Hull City AFC had finally made it through to the semi final of the FA Cup for only the second time in their history and, having been drawn against lower league rivals Sheffield United, there was a decent chance of reaching the Cup Final for the first time ever
With high hopes we set off from Hull early in the morning and reached Wembley Stadium around lunchtime. Today’s walk consisted of a stroll around the perimeter in search of ‘refreshments’ and then later on a climb up the stairs to our seats. But it wasn’t the walk that mattered today, it was the destination. Would our team go through’ I’ll let the photos tell the story
We check and double check to make sure we’ve got the tickets with us
Me and my motheaten old scarf were at this game in 1966 when I remember being wedged into Bunkers Hill like a sardine. We didn’t progress further despite a wonder goal from ‘Simmo’. We’ve never been closer to the final since then - until today that is. Would my old scarf bring us luck today?
James, Andrew, Gilly, Rob and David - all bearing an uncanny resemblance to our manager
Breakfast
In the minibus we adopt a 1-3-3 formation, with Neil our driver alone up front, a 3 man midfield, and James Nicola and Gilly at the back
………we’re on our way to Wembley la la la la
About 4 hours later we have our first glimpse of the stadium
Our merry band of six
Even merrier after finding a pub full of Tigers supporters
Rob and David foraging for food before we go in
The extent of today’s walk - Olympic Way Wembley
Here we go, but will our dreams come true?
The statue of Sir Bobby Moore
A last look back along Olympic Way before we go to our seats……
…and what great seats they are
Our ubiquitous manager
The teams emerge from the tunnel
The first half was a nightmare, what would the second half bring?
It was a dream - an unbelievable forty five minutes of football
Deep joy - Hull City AFC are in the FA Cup Final for the first time in their history!!!!
……and thank you for having us, we look forward to visiting you again next month
I had to buy the papers the next day to make sure it hadn’t all been a dream
