I got to Hyde early, parking on the street outside the ground. It was suspiciously quiet, though I suppose folk don’t usually rock up over half an hour before kick-off. The ground was signposted down a lane by the side of a leisure centre. ‘Home or away?’ asked an inquisitive steward. ‘Errrr..home?’ Tonite’s game was segregated. Fair enough, The Tigers’ home crowds thus far had been a most consistent 442, 445 and 440. Tonite would be double.
Through the turnstiles, programmes and raffle tickets were available. I grabbed a programme and headed for the social club. ‘Are you a season ticket holder? Are you a member?’ Seemed there were different beer prices depending on what category you belonged to. ‘Just charge me the maximum.’ The social club was sparse, and listening to Sky Sports reporters giving me updates on EFL Trophy games held no appeal, so I was out into the wilds of the Project Solar Stadium.
The Main Stand, straddling the halfway line, was £1 extra to gain entry to. A steward guarded entry, though a ‘NO THOROUGHFARE’ sign did most of his blocking for him. I turned right, instead, where a deep covered terrace presided over the away end to our right. I found an ideal position, high up, able to see both goals inbetween various pillars. Of course, this had to be right in the middle of their vocal support, as the area filled up before kick-off.
What a noise fewer than a hundred can make. My ears were pounding, though my favourite was ‘1, 2, 3, 4 can you hear the Tigers roar? RRRROARRRRRRRRR!’ I was crying with laughter. There was interaction with the United fans too. ‘United’ ‘HYDE!’ ‘United’ ‘HYDE!’…till the United fans stopped. (Sadly, the interaction wasn’t quite there second half, as the vocal United fans moved to the other end.) And if, as seemed often, a United player cleared the bar with a wayward effort, ‘Swing lo, sweet chariot’ broke out.
At half-time I went for a wander, down a ginnel behind the Main Stand, and onto the modern covered terrace at the far end. So much for ‘segregation’, as United fans moved around from the opposite end, they had 3 sides of the ground, bar one mature Hyde lady behind the dugouts who’d occasionally shrill a ‘Come on Tigers!’. She wouldn’t be cowed by all these FC fans. As time clicked on, and both sides missed chances, I managed a circumference of the ground, finding the away end bizarrely angles away from the pitch. How did I now notice this, first half? One end of the stand is tight to the corner flag, the other about 10 yards behind it. They don’t build ‘em like this anymore.
Hyde won the game with a well worked goal off a corner after 34 minutes, as a low ball to the edge of the area was swept into the 6 yard box for a striker to turn and score from 6 yards. However, FC hit the bar twice and played some super stuff on Hyde’s plastic pitch. It was both easy and difficult to see why they’re nearer the bottom than top of the Northern Premier League. ‘You’re getting sacked in the morning’ crowed the Hyde fans, along with ‘We’re the famous Hyde United and we’re off to Wembley’. I hope so. Hyde United v Manchester City, FA Cup Final. I’d tune in for that.
The Damage:
£14 ent
£2 prog
£5.50 pint (Stella)
= £21.50
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