A little while ago, Luton was voted as the worst town in Britain. Few would argue.
Last weekend I met up with some former colleagues for a jaunt to see Sunderland play at Luton. We made a strange bunch: Me a Sunderland fan, MA a dilutee Sunderland fan, MI a Luton fan (who knew Kennilworth Road when it was a cowfield), R a Derby fan and MD a rugby fan.
We met up at a random pub in Luton, called The Railway. My God it was manky. A couple of beers in there and a 10 minute walk to the ground.
Through MI's clever negotiating skills, we'd managed to get tickets for Luton's poshest stand. In Luton, posh is a relative term. I was shocked to find that £26 had bought me a cramped seat behind two pillars. I was also sitting next to the fattest welshman in Luton that day.
I was only slightly surprised that I recognised a few accents of other Sunderland fans who had apparently obtained tickets for the Luton end by an assortment of ruses ranging from buying up Luton fans' season tickets outside the ground to joining the Luton membership scheme several months earlier.
But the full scale of the invasion was not apperent until 2 minutes into the game when Sunderland scored their first of 5 goals and I jumped up to cheer along with about half the others in the stand. Quite amusing for us but probably a bit intimidating for the Luton fans, although I don't think there were any serious problems.
After the game we found another pub that was very much out of context with its surroundings - ie it was smart. Another 2 drinks then we said goodbye to MI and R and set off back to MD's home in Royston where MD, MA and me carried on drinking till late.
I had a bit go on the karaoke (Blue (da-ba-de) and Labeled with Love). Bought and ate some southern fried kurdish chicken. Had some more drink. Then woke up the next day in some beautiful young lady's bed.
That's about it I suppose, for my trip to Luton. Sorry the story wasn't a bit more exciting - it seemed very enjoyable at the time. Thanks MI, MD, MA and R it was a good day.
PS. The young lady in question was MD's daughter and she was in Greece at the time. Hope I didn't mess her bedroom up too much.
