Back in love with the game on Valentine’s Day

I HAD my eyes on only one date for St Valentine’s Day this year. Unfortunately it was a fifth round FA Cup tie and with Sunderland not bothering themselves to get there, I was stood up and in need of a football fix somewhere else.

A glance through the fixtures revealed only one game kicking off at 3pm on Saturday in the whole of the north-east of England, with the weather conquering most matches. The tiny Tyneside town of Hebburn played host to County Durham’s Esh Winning in the Northern League Division Two, six rungs below the Football League on the ladder.

Hebburn’s ground is unremarkable for a club of their level, romantically sandwiched between a power station and a graveyard. As I parked opposite their only entrance five minutes before kick off, it was a far cry from the Stadium of Light.

Here there was one person chatting amiably to the gate man — a Premier League ground has maybe 50 turnstiles complete with huffy operators and every single one will be packed out with minutes to kickoff.

I paid my £3 entry and made my way to Hebburn’s only stand, where most seats were broken and virtually everybody stood. Then a strange smell hit me, one I’ve not come across on the terraces at a football game for some time: cigarette smoke. Men drank from hip flasks to fight the chill and I was suddenly transported back to a time when watching football was fun. No Gestapo-esque stewards trying to throw as many supporters out as possible, just a group of fans having fun on a Saturday afternoon.

The game got off to a flyer, with league-leaders Esh Winning going 3-0 up within the first quarter of an hour. There was no cagey approach that you see in the Premier League, with teams afraid to concede. Some of the tackles that flew in would have seen a flurry of cards from a top-flight referee. As it was we wouldn’t see any handed out until the 90th minute after a proper punch up, rather than the handbags which our prima donna megastars dish out.

After Esh’s scintillating start Hebburn fought back and by half time an entertaining game was delicately poised at 3-2. I headed to the clubhouse for some much-needed warmth and came in for another surprise. Premier League clubs rob supporters blind with catering prices. A soggy, tasteless pie at the Stadium of Light sets you back more than £3. Here the food was tasty and cheap, I got a pie and a pint at Hebburn for the same price as one lifeless pastry at Sunderland.

The home team completed a remarkable turnaround within five minutes of the second half kicking off, going 4-3 up then adding a fifth to put them in command. Esh Winning clawed one back to make for one of the most exciting climaxes to a game I’ve seen for a while. They threw everything at the home side but couldn’t find a way through. It took me back to a year ago under Roy Keane when the most exciting part of a Sunderland game was the final five minutes.

The game finished 5-4 to Hebburn, incredible value for a nine-goal thriller and the most fun I’ve had at a football ground since we beat Newcastle at the Stadium of Light in October 2008. I headed to the clubhouse for one last pint and was delighted to find both sets of players and managers in there mingling with the fans. Imagine Ricky Sbragia and Djibril Cisse hitting the Stadium of Light concourses immediately after the game for a chat with supporters? Premier League managers and their Armani suits don’t belong here, where the touchline attire is from George at Asda rather than Savile Row and the players get the train home rather than drive a pimped-up Hummer. At one point I realised I was stood nearby the WAGs. They were all attractive women, but you suspect they were more worried about a week of work ahead of them rather than appearing on the front page of ‘Hello!’ magazine.

I walked away from the ground remembering how footy should be played; a good, hard physical battle where winning is the motivation rather than money. The Premiership might have lost a little bit of that loving feeling for me, but this Valentine’s Day I fell back in love with football.