If you missed Part One (Gosport Pubs) and Part Two (Southsea), you can find them here and here. Dear reader, I had a dilemma to resolve this morning. I was required to vacate my AirBNB by 1000 but the pub didn’t open until noon. I didn’t have time for two meals before the match and I really wanted to eat at the pub because their menu was exciting – so that ruled out breakfast. Therefore how to fill two hours? Step one was to try and blag a later checkout. My landlady offered me an extra half hour, which was gratefully received. I dawdled in my room for a bit, wondering why the speed of US sitc ..read more

I woke up in Cleethorpes slightly the worse for wear (see this blog for why). Also, my shoulder was killing me. What was that about? It would be around an hour before I remembered I’d stood at the station with my rucksack on my back for half an hour yesterday, which (probably) explained that. The Bays B&B I clambered out of bed straight into the bathroom (it was a small room). I remembered my bathroom light hack from the previous night, repeating the OCD trick of ON OFF ON OFF ON, which provided sufficient light for my shower. I was pleased that I’d got the shower to work (something I alwa ..read more

Last season was very tough mentally so I’m picking and choosing my games this season, withdrawing slightly with a view to not falling out of love with the game altogether. The away games I am selecting are special ones that I plan to craft epic trips around. First stop: Exeter. Day One EXETER I’M COMING FOR YOU! So excited for the first #FootballTouristGuide of the season. Expect dinosaurs, pubs, Sooty, caves and an Australian punk folk band called Ukulele Death Squad because that’s how I roll. #Exeter pic.twitter.com/JEEMOdi6Zs — Jane Stuart (@blackpooljane) August 10, 2023 I do like an e ..read more

If you missed Part One (touristy stuff and pubs) you can find it here. After a good night’s sleep (guaranteed) we headed out into Norwich on Monday (matchday) morning. Our walk took us past some virtual reality escape rooms which we’d have liked to have tried. But we had plans for today. Cafe 33 This place had come recommended by Dave for breakfast. I’d scouted the menu online and been impressed – I wanted everything on it! On arrival there was a lengthy queue outside. Blimey – that is a sign of a good caff! I’ve not queued outside a caff since Betty’s in York ten years ago. Ahead of us in the ..read more

I didn’t go to Blackburn midweek. I simply couldn’t face it and, from what I’ve heard, the congested concourse would have been a huge stressor for me. The fact is, the football is depressing at the moment. Back in 1999 (when we were last this bad) I was addicted to Blackpool and missing a match was incomprehensible to me. I was also severely depressed and spending most of my time sleeping because I was uncomfortable every waking moment of the day. So why was I going to Reading today? Well these ‘proper’ awaydays (somehow local matches don’t count) I have made into a good excuse to build a nice ..read more

Watford away. Usually meh. Not today. Today was Joshy Day: the return of the Messiah! I was singing from the moment I sprang out of bed to my specially-selected alarm tune of ‘She’s Electric’ (a song we’ve adapted for Joshy). ‘He’s electric / His long hair and white boots eccentric / He does things I never expected / And he scores for the Pool’ ‘When I saw Josh Bowler / I went to my wife and I told her / He did a left and a right foot step over / And he scores for the Pool’ I mean, it’s a terrible song really and, as with most of our chants, makes no sense. After all, what’s eccentric about lo ..read more

Ah lovely, lovely Wigan. Regular readers will know Wigan is one of my favourite places in the world. Why? Well read all about it here. Today Blackpool were playing at Wigan for the first time in yonks – so it was time for us to do the full tourist trail ahead of the match. Southbound We like to listen to artists hailing from the towns and cities we’re visiting and I was fully expecting to go full-on Starsailor today. But no. My research revealed such a plethora of talent that we began to wish our journey was longer. Our playlist included The Verve (and Richard Ashcroft), Kajagoogoo (and Limahl ..read more

Back on the road this weekend to Cov. As we did the Football Tourist’s Guide To Coventry last season, it was just a day trip today on the BSA coach. But blimey what a brilliant day out it turned out to be. Quick Recap So I’ve had COVID. Hit me hard the day after I’d worked 14h straight to get the Sheffield blog published. Please read it since it almost killed me. Didn’t go to the Hull game. Didn’t even have the energy to get showered and dressed. Felt sick at just sitting up and trying to get out of bed. Watched at home on Tangerine TV. Wasn’t best pleased at paying a tenner for the privilege ..read more

Another home game, another trip to the pub for the blog… Waterloo Music Bar On Friday night I’d been excited to learn of Liverpool’s successful bid to host Eurovision. It’s on my bucket list to go (only that and the World’s Strongest Man final left) and it seems that next year will be the year. But tonight was all about a different celebration of music…the Rockmantic rock festival at the Waterloo. My lifestyle guru Paddington had a plan in place to keep me on track tonight. My trip to the gym had been kiboshed by Radio Lancashire, who invited me on at gym o’clock. .@AndyBayes is with you to ..read more

If you missed Part One you can find it here. Now before I begin I must apologise to The Kopper Keg for forgetting to include their loo review from Part One. I blame that cocktail at the end. Anyway, here it is. Second rope loo roll holder in recent weeks.Love this! Ideal for a micropub. Right – now to breakfast… Premier Inn, Middlesbrough Central This was a nice little Premier Inn. Fancy opening the curtains to this view in the morning. Mmm beer… Breakfast was just downstairs adjacent to the lobby. We hadn’t paid for it in advance because the one time we did that (in London, I think) we weren ..read more