The Pilgrimage (Part 2) – 22/10/2017 It was a bit of a risk really. I mean, scheduling our trip to basically end after Spurs hosted Liverpool at Wembley… It had the potential to end badly, didn’t it? Of course, it didn’t though. Not by a long, long way. I’ve mentioned, quietly, that my record watching Spurs live is pretty good. I’m 100% in the Premier League over the years and, when you include European...
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The Pilgrimage (Part 2) – 15/10/2017 A day after one of the highlights (so far) of our trip, Theo and I were down on the south coast to watch Southampton take on Newcastle United in part 2 of our weekend’s Premier League double header. This was a rougher, more authentic footballing experience. Far more so than yesterday. I think I suggested yesterday that Wembley ain’t the home of Tottenham Hotspur. Even though Spurs fans...
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The Pilgrimage (Part 2) – 14/10/2017 The last time I watched Tottenham Hotspur live they won 1-0 thanks to a Christian Eriksen goal. On that day, back in 2014, I was on Pilgrimage 1 with Nathan. Today Spurs won 1-0 thanks to a Christian Eriksen goal. Spooky, or what? In 2014 the game (against Southampton) was played at a proper home – White Hart Lane. The match against Bournemouth today was at Wembley – in theory a much...
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The Pilgrimage (Part 2) – 07 & 08/10/2017 Theo and I spent last weekend in Ireland with ex-Swift, Marcus Woods, and his family and, as you’d expect, our time in the Emerald Isle was full of football. We arrived at Dublin airport on the Friday afternoon and were met by Marcus and his son, Daniel. Theo and Daniel are the same age and hit it off immediately…almost too well and too quickly! It was great to see Marcus...
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The Pilgrimage (Part 2) – 05/10/2017 Theo and I headed to our first football match of the trip – England v Slovenia at Wembley – after a full day of tourist stuff. I wasn’t sure that was the best of plans (the amount of tourist stuff) only a couple of days after arriving, but we managed remarkably well. The tube ride from Westminster Station to Wembley Park went quickly, even in rush hour, and we made it to the...
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Three years ago Nathan, my eldest son, and I headed off to the UK on the first Barlow bloke’s pilgrimage to the UK. In a couple of days Theo, my other son, and I jet off on the pilgrimage – part 2. Like last time our itinerary has been largely engineered around football and we’ve got several good games to look forward to. Before we go to those, however, we head out to Wembley to watch England host Slovenia in a FIFA...
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Thanks Chris Wood. You screwed my Monday. And you also made my Monday. Yesterday’s game between Spurs and Burnley should have finished 3-1 or 4-1. Spurs played okay – not brilliantly – but well enough and creatively enough to have comfortably dealt with a horrible Burnley side. After an awful first half, Dele scored the goal we needed then the game opened up. Good chances came and went. Harry Kane, who’s...
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It’s not long now until the 2017-18 English Premier League season kicks off (only a few hours , in fact). This season is extra special for me as I’ll be taking Theo to (hopefully) a couple of Spurs games at Wembley in October. That’s the plan, anyway. I’m sure we’ll be able to get tickets for the Bournemouth game. The Liverpool game may be a bit tougher. Obviously as a Spurs fan I’m all kinds of...
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Yesterday was the final time we got to watch Tottenham Hotspur play at what can now be called the old White Hart Lane. It ended perfectly, which is not something that can often be said about a Spurs experience during my lifetime, with a win over Manchester United. The three points meant Spurs will now finish second – not the ideal spot but an improvement on last season. So, on the field, it was job done. Again, during my time as...
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A couple of weeks ago one of my boyhood heroes – Steve Sumner – passed away after a battle against prostate cancer. I guess it was expected (speaking with people who knew him it definitely was) but still, when it came, it was a shock. For me, a central piece of my formative years, not that I was fully aware of it way back then, is now gone. Looking back, I don’t remember having too many idols when I was a kid. There...
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