COLD AS ICE....(BUT WILLING TO SACRIFICE MY LOVE!)

No not a ode to the classic Foreigner tune (ah they don't make tunes like that anymore) rather how I  summed up the six & a half hour round trip to the "Flan-Siro" on a damp, cold March evening to take in Longford Town... number 3 on my list of 21 clubs.
The drive terrified me as having passed my driving test at the third attempt just two months earlier (due to a bastard who done me for going over a speed dump in second gear) it was basically the first time I'd travelled outside Waterford in a car!  And driving to Longford is no picnic.
Forget about one long motorway and service stations without a care in the world, this took me through places I'd rarely heard of , let alone been too, where twists and turns are par for the course (Abbeyleix and Port Laoise broke my heart I swear to Christ!)
Flancare Park has the look of a "proper" football ground, which at one stage had a 6,000 all-seated capacity, but on a cold Monday , three days before St Paddy's Day in a preliminary League Cup game, I'd have plenty of seats to choose from!
I actually stumbled upon "El Classico" as the opponents that night were Athlone Town. The midlanders had much success at the beginning of the 80's whilst Longford where still non-league but Town's success of the mid-2000's had arguably given them an upper hand of late.
The match report....well it was one of my funniest memories , which of course you can read in the book and I actually stayed the night , enjoying some warm hospitality in John Browne's Pub in the heart of the town. It's one of those real old style pubs....men in corner playing cards, Guinness sign from the 70's flickering on the wall, man in a snug with a whiskey contemplating life and a third generation landlady as welcoming as the sight of a bottle of Big Brother lemonade on the lower shelf.
The club, like many, struggle to get crowds through the door and depend on the love of a hardcore support to carry on. But you can feel the warmth from them.
It was the only thing with heat in an otherwise freezing adventure.

PS- If you're reading this Mr Reddy (Driving instructor) I took the three speed bumps outside Tullamore in fourth gear....bite me!