Monday, April 2, 2012

  We spent the night at a hotel right next to Heathrow. We boarded the bus at 8:15 and arrived for check in at 9:00.  Our flight took off at noon, and we arrived safe and sound  in the US about 3pm. We didn't however arrive to our actual home until 8pm.  I am up this morning, drinking coffee out of my new London mug and already reflecting on our wonderful trip! (Please see our Facebook Page, for a more complete photo array of our trip)
     Special thanks to Mr. Barrie Love, who was the perfect host, and just might be the most patient man on the planet. Please contact him at EPL tours if your soccer club is interested in making a journey like this one. Sincere thanks to Mick Luckhurst for his help behind the scenes, as well as to Craig Carlson for his unbelievable photos and as his religious updating of the FB page. Most of all we would like to thank Billy Gallagher for his vision and tenacity in making this trip happen! Cheers!

Sunday, April 1

     Sunday, April 1, 2012 we slept in until 8:30 and prepared for a 10:30 departure. We were heading to our last friendly match in Staffordshire, England against a local football club, Lakeside FC.   We stopped at a rest stop for a light lunch to fuel the boys for the match. The rest stops in England, are big and beautiful  with a great food court.  We traveled through the quintessential English countryside, which was beautiful!  When we arrived at the gate, the club director met us and we followed him into the grounds. While traveling through the grounds we read the program their club had designed for the match. A PROGRAM!   It announced an "International Friendly" kick off at 1:45...and listed our boys and their boys by name and number! It is an important keepsake of our trip, and set the tone for the match.  When we arrived, we saw a brass band on the field, the American and British flag side by side, and a bounce house and play yard set up for the siblings. We as a team, were overwhelmed by the hospitality and graciousness of the other club and team parents.  Right before kickoff the teams, took the field, and the band played our National Anthem, and then the English National Anthem.  (I confess this really moved me) Both boys played a solid game of soccer/football and it was fun to watch. The other team plays every Sunday at 2 pm, and they had at least 75 spectators.  I watched and chatted with Jamie Cashmore's parents and they were warm and funny, as were all the parents from the other team.  When the match ended, we gave each Swan a SBSC Jersey. The boys immediately put them on and we took pictures of the two teams together.  We were then invited to their cub house, where they provided a wonderful spread for us of food and drink.  We presented the club director with a signed American Football, and took photos. He presented our team with a beautiful commemorative engraved trophy and we took more photos.  We mingled and soon ALL the boys were outside shooting soccer balls. Ellie Stokes provided guitar and singing... we had a great time singing along to the Beatles, Oasis etc. I chatted with Dawn Speck, Nikki Mullings and thoroughly enjoyed myself.  I am sincere when I say our team was overwhelmed by the English hospitality which was unrivaled. The Lakeside Swans, made programs, a party, had entertainment, presented us with a trophy but most of all extended their hand in friendship. It was our last event, and it was the perfect way to end our trip!
   Right before we were leaving, number 10, Tom Wood sat down near me and we had a lovely conversation. He told me his fave team was Aston Villa, he was 12 but already in high school, and he was curious if all our boys had Blackberrys.  He boarded our bus, and rode out to the gate with us, and we were tempted to bring him home with us. Tom Wood, please bring your team to the USA and well show you all around!

     After boarding the bus, we began our journey for London, to spend the night near the airport. We stopped at the White Lion for our last traditional English Pub dinner and Billy tied up the trip. I know the parent's agree with me when I say that I am grateful for his vision. He NEVER lost sight of making this trip happen. He knew, even though we didn't,  that we would cherish the memories.

Saturday, march 31 Day 9

     We slept in and boarded our bus today at 10 am.  Only a 40 minute trek to Liverpool.....and of course the BEATLES MUSEUM!  It was a self guided tour with so much interesting information about their humble beginnings and their amicable parting.  They completely skipped the "Yoko" years, which was a mystery, because the generally accepted understanding/myth is that she was responsible for the demise of the Beatles.  I know the parents enjoyed the tour, so much so that Steve bought a DVD to watch on the bus.  I think the kids tolerated the tour, as it was light and fun, and a nice outing.
      After 2 hours, we re boarded the bus, and headed to the stadium to watch Everton FC v.  West Bromwich Albion.  Tim Howard the goalkeeper for the US National Team, just happens to be the goalie for Everton.  We arrived 40 minutes early, and 30 of us chanted "USA, USA"  and Tim Howard turned around and gave us a wave! Needless to say the boys were ecstatic!!!  The stadium was packed, with a much more mellow crowd than we experienced at the Arsenal game.  Everton prevailed 2-0 and we headed straight for....wait for it....THE MEGA STORE. We knew this would be the last mega store, so we emptied our wallets as the boys handled, begged for and admired all it had to offer.  We arrived at the hotel at 6:30 and had dinner and cake to celebrate Mick's 39th birthday. Some stayed in hotel pub to watch another football game, and some retired earlier.  Tomorrow we have a game at 2 against Lakeside, a local football club. The boys don't know it, but they are going to have a party for us afterward, with a bounce house, band, food and drink. Should be a really great way to end our trip.... We'll head back to London tomorrow after the party, to spend the night near the airport to fly home on Monday.                                                  
      I can honestly say that traveling with this group of people has been easy and fun. Although, we see each other 10 months out of the year, and spend most of our weekends together watching our boys play soccer, we still enjoy each other's company...Tomorrow night we'll have a pint and toast to this fantastic trip, and start thinking about the journey home.  If I can post tomorrow, I will. If not, we'll see you all soon...Cheers!

March 30, Fri Day 8

      We got a little British weather today. Cold and gray with a light, but bone-chilling breeze. The boys didn’t seem to notice as they ran around the Manchester City FC training grounds with coach Gavin. They lined up with their balls and worked on passing drills and finished with a small-sided game. The parents walked around the track surrounding the field or watched from the stadium chairs.
      After the training Gavin gave us a tour of the stadium. It was slightly more posh than other stadiums, probably due to the wealth of the club’s owner, Sheikh Mansour bin Zayed Al Nahyan. The boys seemed to particularly enjoy the Press Conference room where they sat in the big chairs in front of the press and pretended to be the top players while the tour guide asked them questions. We didn’t get to see the players’ dressing room since the kit manager was preparing it for tomorrow’s game. We moved on to the inevitable stop at the megastore and then to the Old Trafford Mall.

     The Old Trafford Mall isn’t old and resembles a typical American mall except for having mostly different store names, a wading pool in the middle and dim lighting—which I thought was strange given the gray weather. Both parents and children played an exciting game of lazer tag. You had to choose a game name to play. The green team, which included Billy (aka “Iron Man”), Megan Flood (aka “Snow White”) beat the red team, which included top-scorer Mick Luckhurst (aka “Viper”) and low- scorer Matt Carlson who managed to get negative 250 points. We also played miniature golf and shopped.

     On the way home we stopped for dinner at a traditional English pub and had meat pies, bangers and mash, fish and chips, among other things (beer).

     It was a relaxed day and everyone was glad to get a break in the action.

Friday, March 30, 2012

   Owen is not feeling 100% today, so we have stayed at the hotel. We are missing the Manchester City Professional training and the visit to Trafford Center. Trafford Center is the largest European Mall, complete with bowling and Laser tag.  I will ask someone else to blog about the day, as I too will be wondering about the day's events.

The view from our hotel room...