Andy's trip to the city of Manchester Stadium
On Saturday 26th April 2008 Andy and his son Graeme joined the Broughty United '93 boys football club on a trip to Manchester. The purpose of the trip is an annual reward for the boys for their efforts during the season.  The final destination was the Premiership match between Manchester City (chasing a European place) and Fulham (fighting to avoid relegation). A tour of the stadium was planned along with a meal before the match, and it is with this in mind that an early start would be required...

Story Broughty United '93 boys football club arrange to take their players to a Premiership match each year as a reward for the players efforts during the season. This year a trip to The City of Manchester Stadium was arranged to take in the match between Manchester City and Fulham. Thankfully this match had a 15.00h kick-off. With plans for a stadium tour and a meal to fit in before the match this would require leaving Broughty Ferry at 05.00h. With this in mind the alarm clock was set for 03.30h, I know bed time in St Truiden! With a quick breakfast and a short drive to Broughty Ferry Andy and Graeme were at the pick up point with 20 minutes to spare (parking was not the problem expected!). Surprisingly, considering the bus contained 14 and 15 year old boys, everyone was on time and the trip was going to plan. With an expected journey of 5 hours and 30 minutes some entertainment would be required, this was thankfully provided by the committee members in the form of comedy DVDs. There was a short "relief" stop at Gretna services and, with good progress being made, the bus arrived at the stadium at 10.40h. As this was a little early for the proposed tour everyone decided to visit the club shop, where a few scarves, programmes and badges were bought. If you ever get the chance to visit this stadium please try to take the tour it is a very enjoyable experience. Although the matchday tour is a little different to the regular one, no entry to the dressing rooms for example, it was still really informative. The tour comprises of a visit to the "dug-out" area, the directors box, the hospitality suites and a visit to the museum, which on this occasion had all 4 European trophies. After the tour it was back to the bus for a short trip to Frankie & Benny's for a meal and a couple of beers, for the adults of course! Much of the meal was spent trying to keep up with the two lunchtime fixtures - Dundee United at Motherwell and Chelsea against Manchester United. With text messages "beeping" the joy, or despair, at regular intervals.

The match itself was the contest between a Manchester City side chasing a place in the UEFA Cup, and a Fulham side trying to avoid being relegated.

With kick-off rapidly approaching a few of the guys decided that a bet on the match was the thing to do, just to keep the match interesting. Many 3-0, 2-0 and 3-1 bets were placed and many people went home a little poorer! The game started with both sides having good chances and both Hart and Keller showing their talents. It was to be Keller who would be beaten first.  A super strike from the edge of the box by Stephen Ireland after 10 minutes left Keller helpless in the Fulham goal. Man City then seemed to take control of the match and it was no surprise when they went further ahead after 21 minutes. Benjani netting a fine goal, from a Vassell cut back, after some superb build up play. After this Fulham appeared to want to get back in to the game but just did not seem to have the skill or the inspiration to do so. Fulham looked like a side that had accepted their fate. As the teams left the field at half-time all the talk was surrounding how many Man City would win by. How wrong could you be!

The second half started in much the same way as the first, good chances at both ends, with goalkeepers showing their worth. With Man City seemingly comfortable and in little danger Stephen Ireland was replaced after 56 minutes by Geovanni. This appeared to open the midfield for Fulham who then made a substitution of their own, and it was to change the game. Diomansy Kamara came on for Healy after 64 minutes, and 6 minutes later had Fulham back in the game with a cheeky goal. Kamara received the ball in the 6 yard box and turned a Man City defender to shoot, the ball deflected off the heel of Hart and settled in the net. Game on! Fulham now had the inspiration and skill that had earlier been missing. It was little surprise when Fulham equalised after 79 minutes, although it required a penalty to do so. Nevland was fouled by Jihai Sun. Danny Murphy took a good penalty which Hart saved but let loose, Murphy reacted quickly to score the loose ball. Both sides now chased a winner as an exciting match drew to a close. With 3 minutes of stoppage time almost finished, Kamara again produced a piece of magic to score a goal that keeps the spectre of relegation at bay for another week. As this was the last home game for Manchester City the players had to make a  tour of the pitch, however, most of the home supporters had left before the end. The group from Scotland had all stayed behind to enjoy a bit more of the experience.

Once outside the ground, and after another visit by some to the club shop, it was back to the bus for the long road home. For the return trip a couple of quizzes had been put together and this kept the boys entertained until the rest stop, this time Southwaite services. After a brief stop another DVD was enjoyed and before long Dundee, and home, was in sight. The bus was back in Broughty Ferry shortly after 23.40h, a long but enjoyable day had came to an end.

MANCHESTER CITY V FULHAM
Saturday 26th April 2008
The City of Manchester Stadium

Manchester City : 25 Joe Hart (GK), 3 Michael Ball (Captain), 6 Michael Johnson, 7 Stephen Ireland, 11 Elano, 12 Darius Vassell, 15 Martin Petrov, 16 Verdan Corluka, 17 Jihai Sun, 27 Mwarurwari Benjani, 28 Gelson Fernandes;
Subs: 1 Andreas Isaksson (GK), 8 Geovanni, 20 Felipe Caicedo, 30 Nery Castillo, 38 Shaleum Logan.

Fulham : 1 Kasey Keller (GK), 4 Paul Konchesky, 9 David Healy, 17 Paul Stalteri, 18 Aaron Hughes, 20 Brian McBride (Captain), 21 Jimmy Bullard, 23 Clint Dempsey, 25 Simon Davies, 27 Danny Murphy, 32 Brede Hangeland;
Subs: 12 Tony Warner (GK), 3 Carlos Bocanegra, 11 Diomansy Kamara, 15 Erik Nevland, 26 Leon Andreasen

Referee : M L Dean;
Assistant Referees : J D Stokes, M S Yerby;
Fourth Official : M S Pike.

Attendance : 44,504

Manchester City  2 : Ireland 10 mins, Benjani 21 mins
Fulham                3 : Kamara 70 mins, Murphy 79 mins, Kamara 90 mins.