The evening started inauspiciously with one of those trips down the M6 that makes you wonder why the hell they don't just call it a car park and have done with it.

It got better when I saw Al get his 200th league goal (although sitting with the home fans I couldn't celebrate quite as much as you lot across the pitch!).

It got better still when Kevin Gallagher scored his comedy goal to make the match safe.

It reached the heights with the final whistle at Stamford Bridge confirming that we were top of the league!!!!!!!

The best bit of the night, however, was before the match as we were heading to the turnstile for the main stand. I saw Joe Royle (big deal) but who was that he was talking to .... the greatest living West Indian - Sir Vivian Richards himself - in the flesh. So I did what any self-respecting nerd would do in the circumstances and asked very politely if he'd autograph my match ticket. He obliged with a smile. The I realised he'd written it across one of the perforated sections that the gate man was going to tear off! I spent five minutes convincing this guy on the turnstile that I was actually a juvenile and he only needed to tear off one of the stubby bits instead of both! He agreed in the end thank the Lord.

I don't know what the great man was doing there but he appeared to be leaving the ground rather than staying for the match. Might have been good with a bat in his time but does make some bloody bad decisions these days it would seem!

-- Anonymous, September 06, 2000

Answers

>>>>>I spent five minutes convincing this guy on the turnstile that I was actually a juvenile

You're putting me on Jacko - it never took that long surely? ;-)

-- Anonymous, September 07, 2000