Liverpool and Manchester
May 1-2, 2004
Click to enlarge
I went to Anfield, where
Liverpool play football, to
watch the match against
Middlesboro. They won
2-0.
We flew into Manchester
on Saturday and stayed
there that night, travelling
by coach to Liverpool,
which is only 34 miles
away, the next day. It was
a company lig, as the
chief executive of our
media group has a
corporate box at the
stadium and is
Liverpool-mad.
It wasn't all smooth
sailing. The flight with
Luxair ("ShitAir", as one of
the passengers angrily
exclaimed) from Dublin to
Manchester was delayed
on the tarmac for one
hour 20 minutes in
sweltering heat. Then, the
pilot ordered all of the
luggage off the plane --
and then declined to
inform the passengers.
This didn't affect me, as I
pack light. However, the
others on the trip were
not amused.
Life in the corporate box: You
get lunch, free programmes
and as much as you can drink.
In my case that was limited to
a few Cokes after a fairly dodgy
night before in Manchester,
where we ended up in a
slapper-agua super-pub
straight out of Sky One.
69 mins: Sami Hyppia (bottom) looks to connect with a Steven Gerrard
corner-cross. Michael Owen is surrounded by Boro players, while Riise and
Kewell look on from outside the box.
The day before...
4.49pm: Donough, Brian and a sheepish clerk: "Your
bags are still in Dublin."
Tom: finger-pointing and exasperated
pleas a game for someone else
Tom, again, finds this funny
Donough, ringing ahead from the taxi,
perhaps to find out whether the Paramount
Hotel sells fresh underwear
