I said earlier this week ‘Never go to a friendly’, so obviously I’m at another one the same week. What I should have said was ‘never attend your own team’s friendlies’. They’ll only frustrate you. But my partner’s team? That’s ok. So it is that we’re in Edinburgh to see the mighty Canaries (Norwich City) take on Hibernian. And such is the strength of a side relegated from the English Premier League that yesterday they played Celtic. Today, an entirely different starting XI will take on Hibs, with mainstays such as Pukki, Krul and Josh Sergeant benched.
After staying in Dunfermline the previous evening (you don’t think I can actually AFFORD a hotel in Edinburgh during Festival season, do you?) we enjoyed a Wetherspoons breakfast before jumping on a train to the capital. Easter Road is walkable from Waverley, and so we did, stopping for an orange pale ale in Jeremiah’s, a tremendous bar with a variety of ales. Fans of both sides mixed in all the watering holes to the ground. There’s one advantage to friendlies.
The stadium is wedged in, with a couple of stands having their corners cut. Handily, we arrived at the corner by the ticket office and once figuring out we should be through the gate, we waited in the blazing sun and were almost immediately approached by a Hibee. Would we like a pair of free tickets in the corporate seating? His son and whoever weren’t coming. Yes please, why not!? The gent and his group were most accommodating and chatty and made us feel very welcome.
The match? Well, it was a friendly. Not a lot happened, at least not in the goalmouth, and Hibs nicked it with a close range header. Probably what most impressed me was the crowd…nearly ten thousand turning out. And judging by the way the sound stayed in the stadium (3 double-tiered stands with the opposite East Stand a single tier) it must be some atmosphere when the place is full. I’m coming back here.
The Damage:
free ent
£5.60 Lucozade, Fanta, water
= £5.60
The Tunes:
none
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