NEW!! Outside View by Dale Farrington: 2011

Outside View

by Dale Farrington

Following "incidents" at the League Cup tie against PEA in October, 2011, we were made to play our next two home league games across town at the IPE Stadium. As a further punishment, Chonburi fans were banned from attending these fixtures. Challenge accepted!

We had initially planned to watch the match in the Sharks Cafe, but after sinking a couple of beers, we decided to chance our arm and try to get into the ground. Failing that, we could always view the action through the big gates behind the goals. A couple of phone calls later, we were on our way, and had arranged to meet up with two other like minded rebellious souls outside the stadium.

We had been pretty clear about one thing during our conversation - No colours. Then, in the unlikely event of us being stopped and questioned, we could claim to be four middle aged men out for a Saturday afternoon stroll. It was foolproof.

Well, it was until we arrived to find one of our number - let's call him Clarence - had gone rogue and completely ignored our instructions. He was dressed from head to toe in Chonburi FC merchandise - including a Chonburi watch and Chonburi belt! He looked like a walking version of the club shop.

After giving him a thorough talking to, we managed to persuade him to "tone it down a little". He removed a few of the items and a coat was found to cover up his top half. We could now proceed with our fiendish plan.

Now, if I was writing this as a short story, I'd probably go into great detail about all the things we had to do to avoid detection and the scrapes we got into. However, as it's a factual piece, I have to be honest and say that nobody batted an eyelid. In fact, once we had established our vantage point (the aforementioned big gates) just prior to kick off, we were joined by a few dozen other supporters who'd had the same idea. One enterprising couple set up an impromptu food and drink stall so we could stay fed and refreshed throughout the ninety minutes.

In all honesty, the match itself was dire - a 0-0 draw played in front of an official attendance of 183. Thankfully, we made the most of our evening "on the outside, looking in" and we even allowed our mate to put everything back on again.