This was dulled temporarily by a very comfortable flight made all the better by the wine that was kindly sent back to cattle car class from our gilded companions Messrs Wall and Posehn up at the front of the plane. Once we landed it was back to tardiness as we sat on the tarmac for 10 minutes while the GTAA found us a gate that worked. The gauntlet had been laid down…get off the plane, get though immigration, collect our bags, get through customs, transfer bags, go through security and find our gate for the Regina flight….all this in under 45 minutes. After much sprinting and bag sweating (and a little love from Air Canada Annabelle) we made it. We were “those guys” who everyone glares at (undeservedly) and shake their heads with a barely audible “tsk tsk” to accompany the steely glares. When we landed in Regina it was so nice to be greeted by all of our families and the 58 feet of snow.

Being back home has been bittersweet…the sweet? My lovely daughter got baptized this weekend. The bitter? I had to witness Arsenal get smashed by Man. United, with my Father by my side laughing wickedly all the way.

To kick off the long version of events, we started the 28th in Birmingham and after eating the already-chronicled More than Full English, we set out for a long walk around the Birmingham Canals.  As these are one of my favourite attractions, it wouldn’t be a blog post of mine without a picture or two of the canals in Birmingham.

I’ve said it before and will say it again:  if you’re in the UK and you don’t spend a little time here, you’re making a mistake.  The canals are a unique experience and really nice to look at; if you enjoy walking at all, they are ideal as you can go for a full day through the city without hitting the same area twice.

After our walkabout on the canals, we headed for the train station, my luggage now heaving with extra Villa gear.  (Because, if there’s one thing I need more of, it’s Villa gear.)  As our train rolled in, we were delighted to see that it appeared to be a spanking-new bullet-like ride rather than older gear we’d ridden in before.

Roddy with the Sun, Cory holding forth

On our last ride, what Virgin lacked for in technology, they attempted to make up in flirting; this time, it was closer to the reverse.  The train was fast and new while our server, she wasn’t especially hostile though not especially friendly either, though she did come very near to soaking me and my laptop in scalding hot tea.  (I have that effect on people.)  I think I’d still have preferred that to the come-ons Roddy received a day earlier.

We arrived at the hotel where we added ‘scalded buttocks’ to the tour injury list, alongside ‘bruised shoulder from taxi accident’ and ‘damaged digestive systems’.  Our rooms were at the marvelous Hotel Indigo-Paddington, a few steps from the train station and a superb hotel overall.  We all received complimentary upgrades (whoo-hoo) and as we unpacked and set up our rooms, the big fella missed one of the main technological advances in this newer hotel:

Without going into too much detail…Melissa, please have some balm ready at home for poor Cory.

Knowing our time was almost up, we walked around a large swath of central London, covering beautiful Hyde Park, a very busy Oxford Street (where Roddy’s search for traditional brogues proved fruitless), down to some little place called Westminster that people seem to make some fuss about.  Alas, we missed the final tour by about five minutes but we were fairly bagged at this point anyway, so we’ll save that for a future trip, along with a visit to more northern reaches of the country.

Mandatory Marble Arch photo

The amount of greenspace in central London is mind-boggling

Wandering back via Jermyn Street, the boys picked up their now-fitted suits (coming soon to a Baptism near you!) and we headed on to the Tube at rush hour, where had a unintentional cuddle with a number of strangers.

Roddy then headed off to the City to meet an old friend and scoff down an untold number of curries, whilst Jeff, Cory and I headed to a pub for a final British meal.  We started with mushrooms capped with Shropshire Blue Cheese, which was, yes, brilliant.

Cory and Jeff had the fish and chips, fittingly enough, and both reported it to be the best on the trip by a wide margin.  I tried this little twist on a Brit classic:  roast beef wrapped in Yorkshire pudding.  It was…ok.

We ended the night relatively early, packing and preparing for departure the next day.  We’ve had an absolutely amazing time, as all the stars seem to have aligned for us on this trip.  We are very fortunate people and we know it.

We’re all sitting here in the London Business Lounge, waiting for departure in a few moments, Cory again tweaking his fantasy team and nursing his wounds.

We look forward to seeing everyone at home.

By the way, the very next post will be Macleod’s debut!

I was fascinated to see how much had changed in the ground since my first visit to the ground in April 2008.  I had seen all of the exterior changes – the fixing up of the Trinity stand, the restoration of the Holte suite from being a condemned building, the mosaics, and so much else – and on this trip I was amazed to see how the interior areas have been almost completely redone in dramatic and classy ways.

Randy Lerner, who took Villa over in August 2006, probably saving the club from oblivion, seems to have a commitment to the club and to the city that go far beyond what you’d expect.  As with the external redesign, he’s been personally involved in much of the redesign of the interior as well.  As with everything at VP since the takeover, the class is evident everywhere.  Lerner and team have installed stained glass in as many places as possible (yes, even on the doors to the lavatories) and the look is simply fantastic.

Mosaics and stained glass on the Holte exterior

Stained glass is everywhere and it always looks good

Walking up the stairs, the look is everywhere

Lerner and co. have also invested heavily in restoring the history of the club.  In recent months, Villa unveiled a new statue of William McGregor, the founder of Villa and of the Football League, that is, the professional club system that dominates the sport today.

Ravi managed to take time out of his intense matchday schedule to deliver an amazing tour of the facilities for us, something that isn’t usually permitted for evening games.  As we’ve all mentioned before, Max Value Tour 2010 would just not have been possible without Ravi’s help, so you’ll all be pleased to hear that we brought Rav his very own tour shirt.  If you thought the Roughrider gear I brought him last year was an obscure gift, well, now we’ve surely gone up another level.

Ravi begins the tour

I’ve done a Ravi tour before (although each has been different) but I think this was a special treat for the rest of the crew, as we had access that was beyond anything they had seen before.  We had a look at the Visitor’s Dressing Room (including Wenger’s signature parka), the Home Dressing Room (snapped a shot of Gabby’s custom shoes), and even spoke with one of the physios.

Down through the tunnel

One of the trainers gave us a lesson

I'll try wearing some of these to work one day

As we moved closer to the pitch and into the tunnel, Ravi took us into the media areas where Jeff began to hold forth on the BBC set.

Already showing the passion of a Villa fan

I find it very hard to describe properly the feeling as you move pitchside in a famous ground like Villa Park, so I won’t bother to try, other than to say it’s a lot of fun.  Villa Park itself is interesting in that all four stands have separate histories and separate styles, so it’s a very interesting place to explore visually.

Ravi added a fun twist to the tour by introducing us to the groundskeeper to discuss his work.  VP’s ground is considered to be one of the best in the league, or at least it was until the pitch invasion by thousands of fans last week upon winning the Carling Cup semi-final against Blackburn 6-4.  At the risk of traumatising him, we asked him about how he rehabilitates a ground after an incident like that one.  He responded that it’s an extremely involved process to get the grass to stand up again, involving tiny mowers, some handwork and “lots of rest.”

It’s always interesting to talk to someone at the top of their game, whatever that game may be, although we had to let him get back to his real job before game time.  After meeting with the groundskeeper and touring the stadium, Rav then showed us the new Holte Suite, a massive new matchday pub and restaurant for Holte End season ticket holders and magnificent Holte Pub, a beautiful old building that had been condemned and is now restored completely on the outside, with every modern amenity possible on the inside.

Our guide and the unofficial fifth member of our trip had to depart for a meeting because, you know, there were 40,000+ people about to arrive at his workplace.  He mentioned that he hadn’t shown us the Sky Lounge or where our seats would be because he didn’t want to “spoil the surprise.”  Just before he left us, Ravi grabbed a game program to look at it quickly, then mentioned that there was some important team news on page 67.  If you saw Jeff’s earlier post, you now know about that team news, the debut of one Nathan Walkeden.

Proud Papa!

Because it simply does not get old, here’s the little man in the program once more:

The Sky Lounge package we signed up for provided a great example of why Villa won for Best Hospitality service this past year.  We had escorts to the lounge at each step and the entrance itself, unsurprisingly, was impressive, particularly given what we’d seen at other grounds on the trip.

As Roddy noted a few times, the interesting thing about Villa Park is that it is now top-of-the-line modern while maintaining all of its character and history. Virtually all other grounds in the league are historic and a bit worn, or very new and perhaps a bit sterile.  Roddy also noticed just how sparkling clean is everything at VP, something Ravi mentioned to us is a real priority at the club.

The package we had included an executive lounge before the game with food to purchase (the balti pies and curry discussed in an earlier post), with pints galore, betting at the table (I was less successful this time but still won some), and a great overall atmosphere.  Better still, free drinks would await us in here at halftime and after the game, where we planned to catch the end of what proved to be a thrilling Manchester derby.

Some former Villa players speak

We were all blown away by the experience at this point, so much so that Roddy’s loyalty to Arsenal was wavering.  Hmmmm…let’s see…being rudely shoved out of a club shop, having traveled thousands of kilometeres and willing to spend money vs. the Ravi experience at Villa Park and your nephew being in the freaking game program.  Yes, one of these organisations is supremely classy, the other one is sponsored by the sovereign Ponzi scheme that is Dubai.  Choose wisely, my friend, choose wisely.

Thanks to a great tour and conversation with James, the duty manager in the lounge, we learned that we actually had two sets of seats we could choose from:  in the stands and then out on the special balcony outside of the Sky Lounge itself.  Initially we weren’t sure of the value of these balcony seats but we ended up spending the entire second half from that vantage point, as it was amazing, as pictured below:

Cory in one of our exclusive balcony seats

The view from the balcony

Another angle

After a few pints in the lounge, we went down a private corridor to our seats, right next to the Directors Box.  (Speaking of the Directors Box, as a fun aside, while walking back to the lounge at halftime, I was walking directly behind one Randy Lerner.  Yes, the owner.  Sadly, I was unable to get his attention.)   Our seats just kept getting better and better as the week progressed.  The seats were incredible, not just for the view but for the extra space and comfort they afforded us.  Heck, even the tickets looked good.

Yes, we were this close to the halfway line

The first half was filled with opportunities and a lot of good action, with both teams unfortunately being very wasteful of their chances.  On the plus side, both teams were clearly playing for the win and both were committing to hard tackles.  As we discovered about ten minutes in, Arsenal would be playing this night with an extra man:  the referee, whom even the Gunners Message Board has admitted to being hilariously one-sided in his calls.  More on that later.

I managed to get a couple of shots of the game itself in focus (well, by my standards), so enjoy these before I move to the second half.

After a scoreless but thoroughly entertaining first half, we retreated to the Sky Lounge for our halftime bevvies and opted to stay there for the second half, given the proximity to the loud Holte End, the side Villa would be attacking in the half.  This proved to be a great choice.  I’ve never watched a game from this vantage point before and it was remarkable to be able to watch the action unfold from these angles.  From corners, the view was just amazing, as we sat right on top of them, with the Holte baying to our right.

Arsenal hit the bar a couple of times, Villa missed two open nets, and both teams were wasteful overall of their chances, resulting in a 0-0 draw. If you’d told me we’d have seen a 0-0 draw on the trip, this is the game in which I’d least have expected it.  Overall, I thought Villa were the superior team last night and deserved to come away with more than a draw.  In the later part second half, in particular, Arsenal seemed to be just hanging on and playing for the draw.  Indeed, Arsenal were saved by the referee on numerous occasions, some that will almost certainly be reviewed by the FA.  Even by the standards of the Premier League, where all decisions are largely controlled by four main teams, this was outrageous WWE or NBA level stuff.   Roddy himself conceded that the referee had largely influenced the outcome, with two sequences in the final ten minutes being not bad calls but utterly Donaghy-esque. When facing a Big 4 team, you know you’ll lose every 50-50 call and many with a poorer split as well.  Last night went well beyond the usual and into a different realm altogether.

The issue isn’t bad officiating; we all have bad days at work.  The issue is that the badness always works in one direction and one direction only:  to the benefit of the big four teams.  If the FA and PL wish to look at ways to reverse the trend of decline in domestic attendances, they may wish to start here.  But I digress.

After a remarkable experience on the sky deck, we headed back to the lounge for a few post-game drinks and to meet up with Ravi one last time.

Before we left the park for good, we took the opportunity to return to the deck one more time to say goodbye to Villa Park and to the last footie stop on our tour.

The heaters begin to rehabilitate the grass

Given how amazing the VP experience was, it’s just as well that we ended the tours here.  I can’t imagine how this one could be topped.  Thanks again to Ravi for making it all possible.

Therefore, Roddy and I determined that a burger run was in order.  After asking the door lady at the entrance to the executive area if we were allowed to exit and return, we were off.  By-passing the many tiers of security was an entertaining experience.  When asked where we were going, the response of  “we were given special permission to go and grab a burger” seemed to garnish a smile from each of the security guards.  Something tells me they knew were were Canadians at that point…

Finally making it to the burger stand we purchased 5 monstrous burgers and a pie and chips (for Roddy).  As we made our way back through security, Cory carting 3 burgers and Roddy his pie and chips and another burger, we were horrified to discover that we could not enter the executive area with any food.  A detail we failed to negotiate prior to our departure.  The solution?  Scarf down whatever we couldn’t carry and smuggle a burger up to Fred and Jeff.

So there we were, standing amongst the Bentley’s, Lamborghini’s, Audi’s, BMW’s, Aston Martin’s and Land Rovers, wolfing down as much food as we could to get back to the lounge for kick-off.  After i ate 2 burgers in what was probably 10 minutes or less and Roddy polished off his pie and chips and part of a burger, we were ready to return to the executive area.

Roddy stuffed the other two burgers into his vast jacket pockets and we made our way back through the security hoard back to the executive lounge.  Thankfully the smell of fried onions and steaming beef didn’t alert the guards and we made it back to Fred and Jeff just in time to go to our seats for kick-off.  Once seated they scarfed down the semi-warm and somewhat soggy burgers, pocket link included.

What an experience!

This has to count as a pub

A superb curry was had by all:

And some of us followed that up with the legendary Birmingham dish, chicken balti pie.  Mmmmmm.  Balti pie is essentially the spicy balti with the obvious English twist:  wrap it up in a pie and add some gravy to it.

I couldn’t touch the fries but the Balti pie was just fantastic, spicy and hearty, just as you’d want it.  The locals seem more than a little amused by our enjoyment of the novelty of it.

Speaking of local novelty, that takes me to breakfast this morning.  I’ve come to the conclusion that most British cuisine is based on a dare – “hey, you know that Spam stuff?  Dare you to fry it and eat it!” – and before our canal walk we opted for the mega-Full English breakfast.

Everything's better with brown sauce

Some of the offerings here include blood pudding, fried eggs on fried bread and several different types of meat to add to the mix.  I don’t expect any of us will be eating for a long time.

Roddy noted a childhood favourite at the breakfast bar before he was done:  cocoa crisps.  He went back for more, while educating us on the proper aging of cereal in milk; apparently 8-9 hours is ideal.

We were also given a lesson in how properly to consume one’s cereal; you’ll notice that spoons don’t play a role here.

Travel was interesting on the 27th.  We started with the First Class cabin on Virgin Trains, albeit on very old rolling stock without wi-fi or the full meal service.  We were nonetheless quite pleased with it all and, in my limited experience, Virgin’s worst service is better than Via’s best service.

It wouldn’t be a footie tour without a gratuitous shot of Wembley, so here it is as we whiz past at high speeds on our way Brum.  The gratuitous shot of Wembley is a wonderful way to mention gratuitously that Villa will be playing there on February 28th against heavily-favoured Manchester United in the final of the Carling Cup.  It’s Villa’s first appearance in a final of any domestic competition since an abysmal performance in 2000.  Villa haven’t been in the final of this particular competition since 1994, so these occasions are few and far between.

Back to adventures in travel.

First class service is pared down on this train and over lunch service, when we were able to secure our ultra-cheap tickets.  The included food isn’t bad at all, though.

More impressive were the large seats, large table and overall comfort of the cabin.  We were pleased, though not as pleased as our tea server was by Sir Roderick.  Her open and extensive flirtation with Macleod was highly entertaining and I believe she mentioned her newly-single status at least three times while chatting with him about Mystic Meg’s horoscopes.   Every word of the preceding sentence is true and verifiable.  Take it up with Macleod.

Alas, our adventures in travel took a different turn in Birmingham.  Departing our hotel for Villa Park to meet Ravi, we hopped in a taxi and about 200 metres later were hurled about as our taxi rammed straight into the back of another car waiting to exit.  (Michelle:  this happened right outside the roundabout of the Crowne Plaza, heading to the Mailbox complex.)  We were all fine (one shoulder bruise is the extent of the damage) and despite our taxi driver’s entreaties to have us testify on his behalf, we left and flagged down a different car and headed off to VP for the signature event of the trip.

The entire visit to Villa Park snowballed, bit by bit, with the club topping itself at each step.  Ravi took us on an amazing tour (more on that in a moment), showing us all of the improvements that have been made at the park in the past few years, with each step more impressive than the last.  The tour reached a crescendo when Ravi dropped us at the Sky Lounge entrance, with specific instructions to look at the program on Page 67.  Lo and behold, wee Nathan Walkeden:

We’re still not entirely sure how Ravi pulled this off, given that we’d only sent him this picture for a laugh less than two weeks before the game.  He mentioned something about a last-minute special request and there’s little Nathan, featured in his first publication.  Needless to say, Jeff has a large stack of programs coming home with him.  You’ll also note that the text indicates a desire to welcome the Walkeden family back to Villa Park…so start packing, Jo, you’re headed to Birmingham!

As we all seem to agree, there’s no looking at that picture without smiling.  It’s a classic.  We imagine it will make it into a wedding slideshow some day.

Villa = class.  Thanks, Ravi.  This was a most surprising turn of events.

2)  Virgin First Class to Brum, where Roddy experienced some rather aggressive flirting from our food server

3)  Involvement in a taxi accident a few hundred metres from our hotel, on our way to Villa Park – everyone is fine, a shoulder bruise is the extent of the damage

4) Villa somehow top themselves again in the experience — no, really

5)  Villa 0, Arsenal + referee 0  – a far more exciting game than the scoreline would indicate

6)  Curry consumed, balti pie consumed…now off for a Full English

Full photo posts coming a short time later if we have wi-fi on the train, a fair bit later if we do not.

———————————————————————

Well, this was awesome.  As Cory mentioned yesterday morning (over Scotch smoked salmon, brie, and champagne of course), he still has chills from the whole experience — unrelated to the extremely damp cold of game night.

At the outset, let me again mention that none of this would have been possible without Ravi’s assistance.  He managed to snag us four tickets to a sold-out London derby and to arrange the pre-match tour, an event that’s not supposed to occur at evening games. Thanks again, Rav – last night was superb.  Ravi and his sister Angela were able to join us for the game as well, which was really nice.  We treated Ravi to the game, something that took some time for him to accept; I think our lightly-veiled threat to streak the Directors Box at Villa Park finally convinced him to accept our offer.

So, we set off from our digs in Piccadilly and Cory came prepared in his canary yellow Spurs gear.

Did it *have* to be canary yellow?

As we wended our way through the edgy neighbourhood in Tottenham, in search of our pre-game pub, we came upon our first sighting of the ground.

Naturally, a detour into the Spurs shop was mandatory…

…as was a detour into a truly grim little William Hill betting shop to place some wagers on the game.  I’m pleased to report that Cory won his ticket at 5-1 odds (paying for the damage incurred in the club shop) and I won at 1-2 odds.  Roddy, unfortunately, missed on all counts.

The smell of stale alcohol and the quiet desparation with which dog races were being watched did not make for the best environment, so we were delighted to leave this little shop at our earliest convenience.  It was time to meet Ravi and our guide Jonathan over at the grounds.

Cory and Jonathan

Cory holding forth on the transfer window and BPM

It’s quite an experience to come through the tunnel and to see an historic ground like this one under the lights.  My first impression of the ground was that it was more compact than I had expected, with fans even closer down to the action than I had expected.  I was also taken by how closed in it all was, which stood in contrast to my previous visits to Villa Park and the Valley.  I was optimistic we’d get real noise in this kind of environment and I was not disappointed.

Jonathan kindly allowed us to just linger pitchside and soak it all in.

Cory was then invited to sit in the Manager’s Chair and direct the action for a little while.

Jonathan then took us through several other rooms @ WHL, including a trophy room that housed the largest trophy any of us had ever seen.  It was for a preseason tournament victory, of all things, although Jonathan noted that the smaller the tournament, the larger the trophy.

Using the big fella for scale

To our surprise, Jonathan also showed us the dressing room only a few hours before kickoff, something not normally allowed.

Cory was quite pleased at this point, noting that the jerseys he was standing next to are the same ones that would be worn that night during the game.  For all of us, this was something of an “oh yeah…” moment, reminding us that we were indeed here at White Hart Lane for a PL match.

Following our comprehensive tour of the grounds, Jonathan then suprised us with a wonderful little bonus:  passes to Spurs executive club lounge for the game, where we could enjoy pre and post game pints in warmth and comfort. 

Absolutely splendid

Now before I move to the game itself, there was a landmark moment before kickoff that must be shared with everyone.  Arsenal and Spurs are arch-rvials, both jockeying for dominance in North London.  You may recall that in an earlier post, Roddy (Arsenal supporter) had Cory (Spurs supporter) hold up Arsenal gear at the Arsenal train station on Sunday, just following our shabby treatment at the Arsenal store.   Now, it was time for Cory’s revenge, so behold Roddy Macleod, Spurs supporter:

This is made all the sweeter on account of the class shown by Spurs in providing us with our experience, in stark contrast to their North London neighbours.

It was finally time to take our seats and prepare for the match, on the coldest night of our trip thus far.  When we arrived at our seats, I realised that Ravi and Jonathan had another rather pleasant surprise in store for us:  although the game sold out, we somehow were allocated seats a few rows up from the pitch, at a great vantage point.  These two photos are poor (no surprise there), but they are also unzoomed, so they give you a sense of where we were seated.

Yes, those are unzoomed.  So, as players would grimace, wince, or smile we’d see it on their faces during the game.  Our seats just kept getting better as the trip progressed. 

Did I mention that it was very cold?  There’s only one answer to the cold:  Bovril.

I’m going to go ahead and blame the cold for my shivering hands that led to about four hundred out of focus shots of the game itself.  I believe you can partly make out some players in the two shots below, so those will have to suffice for game-action shots.

Now, amazingly enough, I did get video of the second goal and the mental reaction around me although that appears to be very difficult to post.  If time permits, I’ll find a way.

So, what of the game itself?  The BBC Report is here.  Tottenham won 2-0 and were more than good value for the win.  The scenario we had feared was attempted, with Fulham coming to play for a draw and to kill the game off.  Fulham have a pile of injuries, particularly with their strikers, so we understood the strategy but it’s still awful to watch.   Thankfully, Spurs broke Fulham down, often with moments of superb quality and in the end I thought the scoreline flattered Fulham.  The victory moved Spurs into the ultra-coveted fourth spot and that’s a place they will be trying to stay until the end of the year.

One of the players I was most hoping to see was Luka Modric, the brilliant wee pixie of a man at the heart of Spurs’ midfield.  He’s a wee man but with a brilliant passing mind and a tremendous work ethic.  In fact, his work ethic and his ingenious passing is what led to the first goal.  As Jeff noted, the Fulham defenders had given up on a play at their own end, expecting the ball to go out for a goal kick; Modric somehow saved the ball with one foot, volleying to himself, only to place a precision pass to onrushing teammate Peter Crouch for a beautiful and seemingly improbable goal.  Modric surpassed my expectations live, just a superb player.

As an aside, it was interesting to see Crouch live.  I believe Roddy had it right when he described him as a “gangly baby gazelle.”  I’d say that’s spot-on.

This was a terrific night and exceeded all of our expectations.  Many thanks to Ravi and Jonathan for making it all possible.