Illusions shattered by Bratislava's nagging mist
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Your support makes all the difference.Ian Gillard, the Queen's Park Rangers left-back, was not the only international novice on England's previous trip to Bratislava for a European Nations Cup tie against Czechoslovakia, 27 years ago this month. Steve Tongue, IRN Sport, was making his overseas debut and very excited about it too. It did not prove an auspicious trip for either of us.
Independent Radio News being a broadcasting organisation of limited means, I travelled not with the posh press pack and Don Revie's squad, but with a group of supporters, at a cost of £58 for one night. Our genial host, frequently encountered in subsequent years, introduced himself on every trip with the same words: "My name's David Dryer. In Germany they call me Herr Dryer." It was quite funny the first time.
Bratislava was a delightful place, with the exception of the mist down by the Danube. By kick-off time it had become proper fog, which had only one advantage: having been fobbed off with a seat in the main stand nowhere near a telephone, I was able to climb into the press-box unobserved by the rifle-toting security guards.
The late Bernard Joy, of the London Evening Standard, offered to share his phone, the only problem then being that once the game started there was nothing for either of us to describe except the occasional appearance by the touchline of a ghostly figure in a white England shirt. This farce went on for 16 minutes before an abandonment, apparently on the basis that after quarter of an hour, spectators were not entitled to any money back and would have to pay again the next day.
Our party, due to fly home after the game, were, it transpired, unable to secure accommodation for an extra night. For want of anywhere better, we sat at a bitterly cold, deserted airport until 1.45am before being allowed the luxury of sleeping on the floor at the team hotel – until preparations for breakfast began four hours later.
This time the fog lifted in mid-morning; it made climbing into the press-box again more hazardous, but it was at least possible to see what was happening. Not pleasant viewing, alas, for England, once Mike Channon had scored in a rare attack. Marian Masny gave Gillard a dreadful time and set up two goals, effectively putting Revie's team out of a competition that the Czechs would unexpectedly go on to win.
Gillard's England career was finished. After a week off with 'flu, so were my illusions about the glamorous nature of international journalism.
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