Carlisle United, 18/09/2010 - Brunton Park

At some point in their life, every Brighton fan has to make the pilgrimage to Carlisle. Considering the journey consists of 732 miles, and involves waking up ridiculously early on a Saturday morning, you can be forgiven for leaving it later on in life before attempting it.

Not me though, as I set off from Haywards Heath station at 8:43am towards London Victoria. However, the time issue once again comes into play if you've had a heavy one the night before; my companions on this voyage had made this error. Within minutes of meeting and greeting them, one of them headed to the toilet to vomit. Not a good start then, as without even leaving Sussex we had our first casualty.

It was when a Christian enthusiast began making a speech to the entire carriage on the sanctity of life, I was beginning to wonder if it was going to be 'one of those days'. Sure enough, he kept on going for a good five minutes, before finally someone told him where to go.

It was a quick dart across the Victoria line upon arriving in London to Euston, where we would have enough time to stock up on supplies ahead of the 10.30 train to Glasgow Central via Carlisle.

Once again the only highlights (for me, anyway) were my two counterparts throwing up during the three and a quater hours journey. No disrespect to them of course - I don't think I'd have bothered with the journey if I was sick before we'd even left! Does this make me a bad fan?

Eventually, we reached Carlisle.

A quick food stop in the town centre was required before we made the quick walk to Brunton Park, arriving just before kick off. The Burgess Hill Seagulls flag was proudly erected

on the empty terrace behind the goal with the help of some friendly stewards, before the teams were out and the game was underway.

The first half was all in all, pretty dull. The Albion were under bombardment early on from an impressive Carlisle side, Casper Ankergren twice making good saves to foil their attackers. Fortunately the Albion weathered the storm and went in at half time 0-0.

The second half saw a change in the play, as the Seagulls dominated possession and continued to put pressure on the Carlisle goal. This did not result in many clearcut chances though, and the game began to draw towards a stalemate. In stoppage time both sides had chances to win it, but the conclusion was to be a 0-0 draw.

All in all then, not a bad result for us, as Carlisle were flirting with the automatic promotion places going into the match, but it certainly wasn't the most exciting of encounters.

The highlight of the day would undoubtedly have to be meeting a man in KFC after the game, who claimed to be the best friend of Albion striker Glenn Murray! He told us that when Murray had had his transfer request last year, Huddersfield, Carlisle themselves and no other than our beloved Crystal Palace had made bids for him! It is worth pointing out he also mentioned that Glenn is now extremely happy at the club.

RATING: 7/10. As alot of people have been saying to me all week, "that's a long way to go for a 0-0 draw isn't it?". Well yes, it is. But then I suppose that's half the fun of going to football. It would've been much worse had we lost! The journey also ran smoothly, with only delays at London Victoria on the way home stopping us at any point.

Next up, provisionally is Charlton Athletic, unless I give in to Tranmere in a weeks time.

Thanks for reading.

Sheffield Wednesday, 21/08/2010 - Hillsborough

Knowing that we would miss the opening day trip to Swindon due to being abroad, the old man and I agreed that our first away day experience of the new season would be hosted by the city of Sheffield a fortnight later. It's easy to see why too, with neither of us having done either of the two stadiums in Sheffield, it seemed the perfect time to tick off another ground from the 92 (my 51st if you were wondering).

I suppose I had better explain the picture at the head of this post, as part of my photo diaries that I tend to put together, I usually make an introductory picture to give my viewers a taste of what it's like in the city I have spent the day in. Well, as I'm sure you can see yourself, the standout thought of the day from the trip to South Yorkshire was the impeccable tram system being used. I can assure you it wasn't my intention to include a power station in the background, but it is a fine tribute to not just Sheffield, but the north on the whole!

The journey up is easy, if not uncomfortable stuck in the back of a full car, in the middle seat as well which let's face it, everyone hates. However, this was no major issue as we reached our destination in good time, and by 12:30 we had pulled up outside Hillsborough in search of tickets for the away end as we had failed to buy in advance. We were told to pay on the turnstile, a rare but welcome method in this day and age, and on that note we set off in the attempt to find a nice pub for a few drinks and some food before the match. However, before we could do this it is worth mentioning that we did stop off at the Hillsborough Memorial for the tragic deaths of 96 Liverpool supporters in 1989. Walking through the gangway into the away later on certainly put a shiver down my spine, and certainly put things into prospective.

Sheffield was unfortunately one of the more challenging places to find a pub that I have encountered, and we ended up eating in a place called Kimberworth outside Rotherham. The name of the pub escapes me, but the food was decent and the service was fine, meaning we had plenty of time to get to return to Hillsborough ahead of the game.

Time for a bit of trivia, did you know that Sheffield is built on seven hills, and is in this way similar to the structure of Rome, one of the finest architectual cities in Europe. I think it's unlikely that Romulus and Remus founded Sheffield however, more like 'Eggy' and 'Duck'.

Onto the game itself then, and in a strange atmosphere which struggled to really get going in the away end, the first real action of the game comes within the first ten minutes. The action is nothing to do with the football however, and involves handbags from Wednesday's Neil Mellor and Brighton's Adam El-Abd. They clash over a tussle following a cross from the left hand side, and when Mellor pushes El-Abd away, the Albion centre back flies over clutching his face in a way worthy of winning an Oscar. Having seen two team mates sent off for 'violent conduct' in the past two weeks, both in situations where they raised their hands in a similar way to Mellor, you can see what El-Abd was trying to do. However, the referee and linesman, who discussed the incident briefly before making their decision, decided correctly to book Mellor and get on with the game.

The first half was dominated by Wednesday but the Albion looked threatening on the break. It was first blood to The Owls however, in the 38th minute a well worked move involving Marcus Tudgay and Giles Coke saw the latter curl a beauty past Casper Ankergren in the Albion goal with his left foot. This was the wake up call the Seagulls needed though it seemed, and it almost sparked an instant response as Radostin Kishishev forced a good reflex save from the Wednesday keeper. Nonetheless, this was all in vain as the Albion trailed at the break.

The second half began in similar fashion, with Brighton pressing the hosts for the equalizer, and only the crossbar stood between them and young Jamie Smith getting it. The next incident of note took place on the half way line, where a horrendous tackle from Chris Segdwick of Wednesday on Brighton's Marcos Painter should really have been punished with a red card from the referee. Unfortunately he disagreed, most likely due to the intimidatingly loud Wednesday supporters, who to their credit were extremely vocal throughout.

The game drew towards a close, and whilst having plenty of possession Brighton failed to create any clearcut chances, and it was Wednesday who looked the more threatening on the attack, twice having should have put the game to bed with far post chances being headed over. In a last ditch attempt to salvage something from the game, Elliot Bennett was bundled over in the area, and once again the Albion will feel hard done by the referee, who dismissed any complaints from The Seagulls that Bennett was impeded. The Albion failed to score, giving the points to Wednesday.

Highlight of the Day: Without a doubt, overtaking an elderly lady in one of those motorised vehicles designed for the pavement, on the road. A close second was watching 'The Football League Show' later on that evening, and seeing that Albion boss Gus Poyet had emailed the show to complain about the comments of pundit Steve Claridge the week before, who claimed that the decision to give Rochdale a penalty against the Albion was the right one in The Seagulls' home game on the 14th. The look on Claridge's face was priceless, as it was proven that the penalty should not have been given and the show apologised! Lesson learnt, don't mess with Poyet!

RATING: 6/10 - Despite an easy journey there and back with minimal delay, the day itself was somewhat ruined for me by the poor atmosphere created by the some 1500 Brighton fans behind the goal. Although placed on the lower tier by some incompetent stewarding, it was still disappointing to be totally outsung by the Wednesday supporters with very little attempt to sing back. Hopefully just a blip.

Next stop, one of the longest trips in the English football, as I attempt to conquer Carlisle!

Thanks for reading,

Matt

First Impressions are crucial...

This is my first ever blog so please don't abuse me too badly if it goes wrong or is infact a waste of your time. A bit of background information, my name is Matt Buglass and I am 16. I am an avid follower of Brighton & Hove Albion Football Club and have been since I was very young. I broke my Albion virginity at the tender age of 5, just after the infamous 'dark age' where former chairman Bill Archer nearly took the club into liquidation. I believe the first match I attended in question was at home to Rotherham United, in which the Albion won 4-1. However, the term 'home' is used loosely, as the venue of the fixture was infact Priestfield, home of Gillingham. For those that don't know, this was during a period of recovery for the Albion after the 'dark age' I mentioned earlier, which meant playing in Kent until the Seagulls could cement a permanent home in Sussex.

So why make a blog? Well, to be quite honest I like the sound of my own ... typing? I suppose that makes sense in an odd sort of way, but I am also aspiring to go into sports journalism when I grow up, so I have been encouraged to do various things to keep me interested in writing and reporting. I'm also hoping that it won't only be for my own beneficial gain, but I'd like to think that one of my upcoming reports will entertain, amuse or at least raise a smile on the faces of my followers.

I would also like to stress that this blog will (provisionally) only be documenting my trips on the road following the Seagulls to various parts of the country. I have many a photo diary of my trips from previous years (feel free to add me on Facebook to view those), but I have always wanted to write down the things one experiences on these days out. I'm sure all true football fans will agree that you can't put a price on the 'perks' that come along with away days, and looking back and reminiscing on these events years later. For those that have no idea what I'm harping on about, I mean the exploring somebody elses town, finding that nice pub in Brentford by the river, going on the hot air balloon and playing crazy golf in Bournemouth, talking to people with ridiculous accents in the West Country, not getting stabbed in Luton! Infact I would go as far as saying that plenty of days out have been ruined by the football itself.

If you've made it this far, I appreciate your time very much, and I hope I have presented myself as best I can. I also hope you will continue to follow me on the reports I will be providing throughout the 2010/2011 season.

Thanks once again for your time,
Matt