Posted 7:12 PM

Yay, tickets!

Next Saturday is what is probably Coventry's biggest game since we got relegated, some 6 or 7 years ago - an FA Cup quarter final at home against Chelsea. This is the first time we have got this far in the cup for 11 years.

Now my darling wife & I were planning on going to watch Coventry next Saturday anyway - they would've been at home to Barnsley - but now with this cup game I was even more excited and more looking forward to. The problem being - getting a couple of tickets. For a normal league match this is easy peasy, as we have never even got close to selling out our stadium (attendance circa 32,000, average attendance about 17k, highest attendance to date about 27k).

There were strict rules in place about getting tickets - season ticket holders, people who have seen either of our most recent games came first. So that was 22,000 tickets accounted for - with the remaining 10,000 going on general sale on Saturday. I set my alarm for 8:40am so I would be up to start calling them from 9am when they opened. Those of you who know me well, know that I normally wake up fairly late on Saturdays, but such was my excitement I woke up at 7;40!

So anyhow, I got calling their hotline to be greeted by an automated message thanking me for calling and to hold for the next available operator - however this was then followed by a cut-off signal. So I tried again, and again, and again... this went on until 11am, still no luck. Then I stumbled across a Coventry supporter's website, saying that people had more luck calling a slightly different number - so I tried that instead. On my 4th or 5th attempt, at about 11:20am - I finally got through and was actually properly put on hold :) 20 or so minutes later (as the people on this forum had indicated), I finally got to speak to someone and got 2 tickets. Hurrah! It was only about 30 minutes later that they stopped selling tickets by phone (in order to accommodate as many of the thousands and thousands of people queueing outside the stadium) so I got in there just in time.

I am now very excited, very bouncy and will probably have trouble sleeping all week :) This'll be one of the 3 biggest footie matches I have ever been to see, along with Scotland vs Switzerland in Euro '96, and the Swansea vs Barnsley play off final a few years back. Also, this'll be the first time ever our stadium has sold out. Should be a great atmosphere and a day to remember, even if we lose as expected.

Labels: Coventry, football

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Posted 1:06 PM

Birthday fun

Well I celebrated my birthday over the weekend before last, and it was probably my best birthday ever. All the sporting results went my way, and those who know me well know I can get quite excited about sport. First off, I went to watch Coventry play and they finally won after many attempts (see previous post), also Wales kept their Grand Slam ambitions alive with a win over Ireland, Scotland beat England (fantastic!), and then Chelsea got knocked out of the FA cup against the mighty Barnsley. Even more fantastic!

When we got home in the evening, I saw my wonderful birthday cake that my wife made - it was a christmas cake (at my request!) iced-up like the welsh flag - very impressive (pictures will be forthcoming). So all in all, the best birthday ever!

(A post saying "woo we won the grand slam" will be forthcoming soon, don't worry...)

Labels: birthday, cake, Coventry, football, rugby, Wales

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Posted 1:24 PM

What? No Photos?

Yes I know I haven't uploaded any more photos, despite saying I would, but this is because the internet connection at home hasn't been working since the wedding. Rest assured that when it gets fixed I will be uploading some photos.

In other news, it's my birthday this weekend, and to celebrate it I'm going to see Coventry lose. For those of you who don't know, my record with seeing Coventry play live looks something like this...
Arsenal at home... LOST (mid-late 90's)
Liverpool away... LOST (mid-late 90's)
2 or 3 other games I have wiped from my memory... LOST
QPR at home... LOST
Cardiff away... LOST
Crystal Palace at home... LOST (October 2005)
Southampton away.... DRAW (March 2006)

I celebrated that Southampton draw like the greatest victory :) Still, defeat is the standard I am used to and I would be a fool to expect or hope for anything better on Saturday...

Labels: birthday, Coventry, football, Southampton

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