I first watched ladies football in May 2007 in Gillingham in Kent. England beat Northern Ireland 5-0 and author Shaun Schofield also attended. We agreed that day that we should head to another away match so we waited a few months and made plans to head to Belarus. Northern Ireland would have a World Cup qualifier there, in a city called Bobruisk. Shaun couldn't make it in the end so I went alone, almost becoming part of the team posse and I was the only away fan at the match!
I watched the team train and enjoyed the team talk by manager Alfie Wylie. I was also presented with a signed shirt by team captain Stacey Hall. A valued possession. I then soaked in the pre-match atmosphere in the tiny, but clean Sparta Stadium (home of Belshina Belarus) and sat myself down as the only Northern Ireland fan at the match. If any moment in my life convinced me of my desire, passion and love of being on this planet, then that all hit me forever in urban Bobruisk. Don't Stop Living would from then on be my phrase. A phrase which I coined in August 2001 while in Toronto, Canada.
The night before I had met Owen (an Irish-Australian) and Albert (an Australian) and they kindly joined me in the stand with their new recruit, a local lady (a blonde Belarussian with large breasts). Owen wore my Northern Ireland scarf for the day, but none of them could have predicted my loudness or enthusiasm for the team. I outsang almost 1000 Belarussian fans (who only started singing because I was so loud and they felt they needed to prove they could as well). I sang for almost 90 minutes non-stop and yet our team still lost 5-0 against a highly ranked Belarus side. After the match I was made to have a police escort as a few local hooligans were not taking too kindly to my passion for my country!!
I had to wait outside the stadium after the game and was mobbed by about 30 kids from Belarus who had warmed to my madness and crowded round me looking for presents. In the end all I gave was a Northern Ireland bottle opener to a kid who was happy to receive it. These kids were obviously still very poor and drenched in the aftermath of the soviet regime, still not commercialised like Western Europe. So I felt sorry for them, but could not give them anything more. I then caught the bus with the team back to Minsk, where I enjoyed the sights of Victory Square, the Parliament Building and the token Irish pub (random going all this way and then trying the Irish pub - the first pub I saw opposite the government building and called Drozhzhy United!!), which I popped in for a pint.
So after all that my journey to Belarus came to an end - what an experience and I was heading to Warsaw in Poland next!
Statistics:
Belarus 5 - 0 Northern Ireland
(5 different goalscorers)
Beers I drank - Krinitska, Dnyaprouskaye.
Bars Visited - Minsk Airport Bar, Hotel Minsk, Drozhzhy United Irish Pub.
I watched the team train and enjoyed the team talk by manager Alfie Wylie. I was also presented with a signed shirt by team captain Stacey Hall. A valued possession. I then soaked in the pre-match atmosphere in the tiny, but clean Sparta Stadium (home of Belshina Belarus) and sat myself down as the only Northern Ireland fan at the match. If any moment in my life convinced me of my desire, passion and love of being on this planet, then that all hit me forever in urban Bobruisk. Don't Stop Living would from then on be my phrase. A phrase which I coined in August 2001 while in Toronto, Canada.
The night before I had met Owen (an Irish-Australian) and Albert (an Australian) and they kindly joined me in the stand with their new recruit, a local lady (a blonde Belarussian with large breasts). Owen wore my Northern Ireland scarf for the day, but none of them could have predicted my loudness or enthusiasm for the team. I outsang almost 1000 Belarussian fans (who only started singing because I was so loud and they felt they needed to prove they could as well). I sang for almost 90 minutes non-stop and yet our team still lost 5-0 against a highly ranked Belarus side. After the match I was made to have a police escort as a few local hooligans were not taking too kindly to my passion for my country!!
I had to wait outside the stadium after the game and was mobbed by about 30 kids from Belarus who had warmed to my madness and crowded round me looking for presents. In the end all I gave was a Northern Ireland bottle opener to a kid who was happy to receive it. These kids were obviously still very poor and drenched in the aftermath of the soviet regime, still not commercialised like Western Europe. So I felt sorry for them, but could not give them anything more. I then caught the bus with the team back to Minsk, where I enjoyed the sights of Victory Square, the Parliament Building and the token Irish pub (random going all this way and then trying the Irish pub - the first pub I saw opposite the government building and called Drozhzhy United!!), which I popped in for a pint.
So after all that my journey to Belarus came to an end - what an experience and I was heading to Warsaw in Poland next!
Statistics:
Belarus 5 - 0 Northern Ireland
(5 different goalscorers)
Beers I drank - Krinitska, Dnyaprouskaye.
Bars Visited - Minsk Airport Bar, Hotel Minsk, Drozhzhy United Irish Pub.
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