I love footie. I love Derby County. Actually I grew up in a family where the men all supported Aston Villa, but after leaving home for uni and another country, then more country-hopping until finally moving back to England and the English schools system (the best on the planet), I settled into sunny Derbyshire because the school I had in my cross hairs for mes enfants was (and is) the best in the East Midlands... actually one of the top schools in the UK. And with sunny Derbyshire comes Derby County.
I remember watching Dean Sturridge, Marco Gabbiadini and always, always Igor, belt their way to the top. I was there when Robbie Van Der Laan took flight and headed the ball into the back of the net for promotion. I was there when Igor et al held Manure to the sword via the spiderlike legs of Paolo Wanchope.
Oh man, I got to see Eric with his turned-up collar play footie almost as arrogantly as Derby. I saw Barca play a friendly at Pride Park, with the utterly divine Figo, that night we were all there; spending a fortune on baby-sitters and taxis, and smuggling stiff G&Ts into the ground inside half-litre plastic bottles of Buxton spring water, then cabbing it over to Nottingham to spend the night dancing and laughing and celebrating. Happy days.
And what am I doing tonight? Listening to Carol Klein's Gardener's World Special as I drift about the www. catching up with "old friends" via their blogs. Don't you just love the world wide web and the necessary growing up? But I still love Derby County more.
