After a bad night’s sleep, the next morning, we headed into the city centre again for a bite to eat and then headed to a market. A local said it was closed, but he was just bullshitting. I told Dave to trust in me by sayng if you ask someone directions in Hendon, they’ll send you the opposite way. Don’t trust the Swiss; they have dodgy banking.
We were back in time and were kindly taken to the venue by our “Transit Man”. At the venue the weather was holding. Storms were predicted, but thankfully, nothing arrived, so it was still a hard grass pitch, meaning Dixon chose his astro-trainers, which would eventually lead to him being picked out by a sniper. The venue was great and the lower level changing rooms were easily accessible. It kicked off a little late, but we were ready (sort of).
Opener saw Sassco do everything possible to try and lose the game against the team which walloped us indoor. They scored first, but we equalised, from Eddy Cook and the crowd went wild.. They scored again, then we equalised. We eventually went ahead. It was direct football. No fucking around passing from left to right. Defend in numbers and then launch it to the outlet. Gourlay scored a hat-trick.
We then were prepared for our second game and steamrollered our opponents, who were a futsal team. Four goals in around six minutes saw them off. Dixon was shockingly snipered late on, but recovered in time. A penalty in the second half saw Gourlay score another hat-trick.
Final game was serious stuff. FC Geneva were in the 3rd tier of Swiss football. They’d hammered FC Futsal and overcome Semailles, so our game was a decider. Realistically, we had to win due to goal difference. We were strong and stuborn, but failed to keep a clean sheet in the first half. Second half, we tried in vain to equalise, but eventually they scored again. Gourlay weaved in and out and hit the post, but did score in the dying seconds. We lost, but felt accomplished as the games ended.
In the evening, we relaxed with a pizza/pasta as Ed desperately wanted one. We then wandered aimlessly around before they decided to wander into a dingy pub to watch fat people no one had really heard of play each other in Soccer Aid. I headed back through Prostitute Alley (Dave told me where to head) and wasn’t too impressed. The bus back and then uploading Digga being snipered.
Next morning, we headed to the city centre for a breakfast of jam and bread, but in the afternoon, we were due to meet at the hotel for a trip to the heavens. Dave got a bit upset with me as me and Dixon and Cooper were in the shopping centre having a tea/coffee. Prior to that, Dixon got upset with Dave and Dave got upset with Barker. Ed Cook couldn’t give a shit. However, we all reunited and were taken by Jose (or “Jackie” as we called him until one of us built up the courage to ask) up to the mountains where me, Gourlay and Baxter went on the cable car up to 4,000+ feet. Gourlay’s hands started sweating (shame he didn’t have the wrist bands). At the top, we drove to the summit where we saw Switzerland and Italy while standing in France. Memorable.
On the way back, we started discussing chants to use, such as: “You think you were Swiss, you think you were Swiss, you think you were Swiss, but really your shit”. However the most popular one was:
“Ice, Ice, Eddy…”
Iceland Tour 2017 scheduled for May/June. Flights direct from Manchester.
