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It’s a wonderful feeling to return to Sitges after a year away. We arrived and headed straight for one of the usual haunts, the Sitges Sports Bar. An ideal spot for watching the players world go by. And we found FTP Debbie, Sandra and Mel doing just that. We caught up and drank sangria for a while. |
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Friday’s ‘welcome party’ was in Paddy’s Bar. You know your town has arrived when it has an Irish pub! All the Claymores fans who were staying in Sitges made it (is there anywhere else to stay?), and we spent the night drinking and dancing. Lou beat Ian at pool, although the FTP helped by playing their Girlie Cards (or should that be assets?). After Paddy’s, it was off to Ricky’s nightclub, although it was obvious that people were beginning to falter at this point, but no-one wants to wuss out first. We gave in eventually, at around 5am. |
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On Saturday we caught the fan bus from Sitges to the Mini-Estadi. There wasn’t much around so one of the Dragons fans took us to a bar nearby. Well, it wasn’t exactly a bar, more of a greasy spoon that happened to have a beer tap. We stayed for one drink, but the weather was beautiful and we all wanted to enjoy the sunshine. We wandered up the road and managed to find a bar with that magic potion – sangria. |
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The Mini-Estadi was our third new stadium of the year (after Arena AufSchalke and the Olympic Stadium in Berlin). It was obviously not used that often, but it was very nice and cosy – even more so than the soccer stadiums the Monarchs used to play in. Lou decided that it should be known as the Diddy-Estadi instead. |
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Lou decided to sit with the Claymores at the game. It’s a good way to get on Sky Sports, especially with the pom-poms out. Also, the FTP are good mates and there isn’t normally an opportunity to sit with them. Lou and Dom became ‘bunch buddies’, with hair in bunches. Ian sat with Sitges Sack, although he also popped over to see his Dragons Bus friends too. |
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After the game it was back to Tito’s in Stiges, the usual post-game hang-out for the Dragons. The night wound up pretty early, except for Dom and Preston who ended up at the beach at a daft hour. Shuggie & Viv had to quit early, as the next day involved a flight to NYC. And everyone else faded away. |
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On Sunday, John & Montse had organised a BBQ for all the fan clubs and invited guests. There was a flag tournament, and the Claymore fans put up a good team. There was also a team of Dragons players, who got into the spirit of the event – although they spent quite a lot of time trash talking each other. There was a performance by the lovely Dragons’ cheeries too, and an appearance by the Dragons’ band. The remainder of the evening involved swimming, playing frisbee, drinking sangria at the Sports Bar and playing pool in Paddy’s. When Ruth arrived, a little after midnight, we all sang Happy Birthday to her. |
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Baa-ba-ba-ba-ba... chiuaua! If you hear that chant, Dani's usually nearby. |
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How To Put Off The Defence 101 - have a female at Center. |
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Does H realise she's in Barcelona for Claymores @ Dragons? |
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Swin: "I almost had him" Crowd: "RUBBISH!!!" |
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Roy makes the catch - TOUCHDOWN TEAM RUBBISH!! |
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The Team Rubbish cheerleading squad seem unimpressed by Roy's catch... (L-R are H, Lou, Mel, Sandra, Ruth, Debbie and Clare) |
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...the girls must have spotted the Dragons' flag team! |
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Ian photographs the cheeries, in retaliation for Lou cooing over the players. This is the reverse camera angle. |
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"Oi! Move away from the cheeries, Mr. M!" Lou looks on inimpressed. |
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Deb was drooling at the players a bit too much!! Either that or she lost her water fight with Roy. |
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Monday was leaving day for Lou, but not until 10.50pm, so we checked out and decided to head into Barcelona. We were minding our own business and suddenly the Claymores appeared too. We went to Barcelona together and decided to eat at the Hard Rock Café. We informed the server that it was Ruth’s birthday and ordered a huge dessert for her, complete with a birthday candle. They brought it through, making a racket, but had to be turned away when we explained that Ruth was having a loo break! She re-appeared, and they made her stand on her chair while everyone sang Happy Birthday. She was suitably embarrassed! |
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We then took a sightseeing bus around the city, which gave us plenty of ideas on what we’ll do when we finally spend a week there, like we promise ourselves every year! Let’s just hope the Dragons survive – we’ve read multiple conspiracy theories about this already this year. |
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Sadly, the day had to end, and it was off to the airport for Lou’s sleasyJet flight back to Gatwick. It was only half an hour late, after a threat of three hours at one point. And Ian flew back on Tuesday morning to head into work and meet his replacement. |
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FINAL SCORE: Scottish Claymores 45 – 7 Barcelona Dragons |
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More photos to follow...
This week we're raising a beer to the FTP. Lou had her purse stolen on Friday and the FTP offered mucho support. Special thanks goes to Lesley (for getting the number for Natwest and for the use of her phone) and Sandra (for plying Lou with drink after it happened). All photos are owned by Ian Mathias. Please seek permission if you wish to reproduce them. Email us at beerleaders@hotmail.com. |
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