December 27 2004

Selhurst in the Snow

It was a cold afternoon at Selhurst and our Boxing Day fixture against Pompey did little to warm the cockles of our hearts, bemoans Jamesey

Every now and then I do as I am bid. So when the official CPFC website urged us to be early because of the large attendance expected for our festive Portsmouth game (Dec 26), I was there at 12.15pm (45 minutes before kick-off).

Of course, when we saw the cover only part way across the pitch it was obvious that a 1pm kick-off was extremely unlikely.

A senior steward told me that the cover had only started to be unrolled at 12 noon and (surprise, surprise), the ice on the top of the material was solid enough to prevent its re-rolling.

So a team of intrepid chippers had to hack away at the nasty stuff until the cover was pliable.

As we now know, the start of the game was delayed by 40 minutes which meant I was waiting in the backside-freezing cold for an hour and a half (OK, I could have returned to the Players' Lounge but I wanted to see what was going on).

It is beyond me why the ground staff could not have reasoned that it would take longer to uncover the pitch and started somewhat earlier - well, most of us were only fans paying up to £40 for a seat. Who cares if we get a bit cold?

At least in the Main Stand we could have a warming beverage and a dog or a burger at half-time?

Oh no, we couldn't (it is the pantomime season!) - the outlet which I sometimes use in the Main Stand had no hot drinks or food for reasons which I was unable to fathom.

As for the game, we started brightly, squandered our chances, and gave away a poorly defended goal in the second half (turned over again on our own turf, just like Everton, Chelsea, Man City, Newcastle and Chortleton).

But I have to say the referee appeared to have been recently beamed in from the planet Dumbo. He ignored all the foul Pompey tackles and lost control and respect completely.

How there wasn't a mass brawl before the last minute of injury time is a modern-day miracle!

Through my disappointment, watching the ice-chippers at work on the cover, reminded me of the old joke about the drunk in the bar of the Titanic when the iceberg was hit..."I asked for scotch on the rocks but this is ridiculous".

Got to smile, really...

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