Part 1 of an Easter double bill..... The Giants have fallen....... but only for a while!

 

It has been a while since I posted, I have been thrown back into the working world after nearly a year of unemployment! I am happy to be working again, but I am finding it a shock to the laid back system I had developed. Any way I am back with a double serving of Paella and Bovril. 

This PnB appeared in the match day programme from the derby match against Dunfermline. At time of typing Dunfermline still existed, just! Raith  started strong but again became weak at the back as the game went on. The game finished 1 all. 

Enjoy!

Paella and Bovril

Spanish news has become something to be avoided. Every morning the broadcasters bombarded with depressing statistics from the crisis.  Camera crews are out interviewing the victims. Trawling the streets in all weathers to ask the hard hitting questions the public want answers to. Papers are covered in the terrible news. Barcelona FC has lost a few games in a couple of competitions!  

Barca has been “the worlds greatest” in the eyes of many and I must admit when they have been on a high I have partied in the streets with the best of them! However, I also know, after years of experience as a supporter of Raith Rovers and Scotland, that a run of losses are just part of being a fan.  Those down at the Nou Camp have been struggling to cope with the downer after their seasons long high and boy did they come crashing down in spectacular fashion.  Everyone has their rivals and no one likes losing to them. But twice in a week is going to hurt.

Barcelona traveled down to Madrid to attempt to regain some pride after a disastrous mid-week European outing with an early kick-off in Spain’s capital. I must admit I forgot that the game was starting early and only noticed when the cheering started to burst out the bars. A 3pm start is not a common thing here. The usual time is between 8 and 10, the latter being the favoured. This means that the normal “bar” fan gets a few drinks in of a evening to watch the game and then heads home.  This day the cervezas starting flowing earlier than some people were used to.  After the game finished I headed out to say cheerio to a girl friend that is moving back to merry old England.  After a few wines (only a few honest) and some very nice vodka berry punch I made my way home.  Oh I saw some sights on that trip.

In the past few weeks I have began teaching English again around businesses in Barcelona. My students are a mixed bunch but the one thing they will all have in common by the end is they will want a wee bit broon sauce on their chips and have their Scottish team will be Raith Rovers. A pretty safe topic in class is football. Most people know enough about the Barcelonas and Man Us of the world to have a wee conversation in English. When I ask the question “describe a football fan?” they can give me a variety of answers, but one thing they seem pretty sure on is that the British fans are terrible drunks, they all knew the word hooligan! They are the first to admit that some Barcelona fans can cause trouble, scenes after a big win can see flares and fires in the streets but all in all Spanish fans are not know for being drunken lager louts!

Well something changed that weekend of the early kick off.  As I walked home after the drinks with my lady friends I saw not one, not two but more than 10 groups of fans being more “loutish” than you would expect in a Barca fan.  Pavement pizzas were aplenty and every bin and corner had become a public toilet, ladies and gents. Fans holding back the hair of their fellow supporters as they are thrown out of the bars. It was a chaotic sight I had not seen before from the Catalans.  What was different about this defeat? It was not the first time Barcelona had lost to Madrid and I am pretty sure it wont be the last. Maybe it was  it the early kick-off  allowing for more drinking time or was it a just a one off case of drowning the sorrows that made this matchday messier than others?