David Linden

I've just woken up and sat and ran through everything I done ysterday..... my god what a day!

6.00 am: Alarm Goes off! Hit the snooze!

6.15 am: Alarm goes off again and this time I get up do all the usual washed, dressed, breakie etc

7.15 am: Head off through Baillieston Main St and go to 2 or 3 shops to try and find a tammy for my ears. no joy. it was still dark!!

8:00 am: finally arrive at Easterhouse meet one of the guys ave been going to the games with for the last couple of weeks

8:25 am: Arive in Airdrie Station and head straight for the wee shop at the station which sells rolls n sausage! superb!!

8:35 am: Arrive at Cue here and after banging on the door for 5 minutes and having no luck I stopped and then a minute later Mary comes to the door and opens it! (cheers!!)

9:00 am: Waiting in Cue here and one of the guys gets a phone call (probably to say game on)

9:10 am: We're off!

No describing the bus journey only it was good and noisey and a lovely clean toilet for 4 hours!


1:00 pm: Arrive in Dingwall and my favourite part of the day so far singing as we arrived got off the bus and everyone heads to invade a pub by the name of ballantynes. before that some of the guys revisit there youth by throwing snowballs at eachother! bought a drink (irn bru of course) cost me £1.60!! nice to add aswell that one of the guys high-jacked the juke box and got only the lonely played and some of the guys in the pub sang along.

1:45 pm: Wasn't being robbed more money for irn bru so headed for the stadium, I was there no longer than two minutes when a big red bus arrived with AIRDRIE UNITED PLAYERS AND OFFICIALS on it... ya dancer!! I ran at the car park attendant and got pencil and paper off him and got Owen and Sandys autographs! much appreciated!!

2:00 pm: The players are in so head for the shabby ticket porta cabins! and decide to opt for terracing buys my ticket and then heads to terracing only to be told that we were being seated in the stand due to there being too much frost and ice on the terracing So as soon as I arrive in the "concourse" I meet Ceefax who seems somewhat annoyed at something and takes me out to the stadium to show me why.... the pitch is in terrible condition and as he rightly pointed out it could have caused an injury... went and sampled the pies and got my all time favourite... a macoroni pie!! which was tasty!!

3:OO pm Kick off the teams run out to a "WARM" welcome and a noisey one at that from the 200 or so diamond fans who made the trip north

See match report for the game its self!

Only way to describe the last ten minutes was nervousness and drama at victoria park and when PL scored that 84th Minute goal I jumped around Ceefax and I was screeming like a little boy who had got everything for christmas! then being only 4 rows from the front I jumped down to where the groundsman and swept the snow to right infront of our support and threw snow in the air like confetti and got covered in it! after what seemed like an enternity of celebration I climbed back to my seat! and at this point having little energy and voice left I still managed to find enough voice to sing till the whistle!!

4.45 pm: cheer the players off the park and swinging my scarf through the air and I was impressed when I went down to leave when I saw a TV at the bottom of the stairs telling me that Partick and Hamilton had both been beaten so we had climbed 2 places to joint 5th with St Johnstone! I sang all the way out the stadium and as soon as I got on my bus got a text from fiona asking what the score was, Phoned her back and tried to speak but as more and more happy Airdrieonians arrived on the bus they sang like mad and I had to hang up as I couldn't hear her on the bus the rest of the supporters kept on singing but it go a little too much for me and I fell asleep only to be woke up by someone telling me that were in Aviemore and we were stopping for food I opted to stay on the bus they all came back and the bus smells like a chippy

After just sitting on the bus trying to find some energy to even open my eyes we started getting nearer to Airdrie and as that the bus just started the singing up again with all sorts of songs were started and stopped I arrived in Airdrie and headed straigh for the station and as I was waking towards the station a police car flew past me at 70 mph with the light on that song about Airdrie being wonderful came back into my head! Got to the station where my mum was waiting in the car for me and headed to Mcdonalds and back home for 10.15

and by 11.00 I was fast asleep

What a day what a result!!!!!

Clan Chief

My first trip to Ross County started at 6 am when my sister picked me up and drove us into Queen Street station. We arrived in plenty time for the 7 08 train to Dingwall. The train left on time. After an hour of travelling and once the daylight broke through it was evident from the heavy frost on the hills and fields that the game might be in some doubt. As we travelled further north the conditions now appeared to be not conducive for a football match. At Inverness there looked to be two or three inches of snow lying at the station. At Inverness a ticket collector came along and told us that he heard that a match was called off which put some doubt in our minds. The allstars gaffer who was also on the train assured us that his contact from Dingwall told him that the match was definitely on.

We arrived at Dingwall about 11.30 am and the scene was one of a picture postcard winter scene. I doubted whether a football match could be played in such conditions. Instead of heading straight for the Mallard as recommended by the ramblers guide and since Victoria park is only a snowballs through away from the station we went over the bridge to the stadium to see if the game was going to go ahead. Once we got to the ground there was a squad of about twenty volunteers clearing snow from the pitch, it looked as if they had only the penalty box to clear. After enquiring about the possibility of the match being called off they said that it didn’t look good at eight o clock in the morning but they were sure that the ref would give the pitch the all clear now.

Having been reassured by the snow shovelers that the game was on we headed up the high street for our breakfast. Once we lined our stomachs with some first class “baps’n’ham” we headed off to the much-revered Mallard.

On entering the pub I was surprised to find that it was bursting at the seems. I had forgotten that there was a football match being played on the south side of Glasgow and it was being shown live on satellite telly.
I could not believe my eyes when I looked round the pub. It was full of County fans with their hometown’s club shirts on with Rangers scarfs draped round their necks. So the next time that it is suggested that our supporters are Rangers fans without the train fare I will point out that there are some clubs elsewhere in the country who’s fans appear to be blatantly of a bluenose persuasion.

At about a quarter to three and after two and a half cider hours later we headed for the match. Once inside the stand the pitch looked dodgy but once the players ran out the tunnel we knew that the game was definitely on.

Taking into account the long journey involved and the amount of alcoholic beverages consumed along the way it was no surprise to me that we had a very vocal support at Victoria park

It was pleasing to see the first goal of the afternoons proceedings go in at the hallowed Jailed. To be honest Coyle illegally handled the ball before Big Mad Mental Hardy slid in on the slippery surface to put us one up.

The Diamonds completely dominated the first half and it was only right that we payed back the generous Highland hospitality that we received with an unfortunate own goal from the Doc.

The second half carried on in much the same vain as the first half with the Diamonds dominating. Just as it looked as if we were going to leave the Highlands with a disappointing point up stepped the ever-impressive Lovering who is fast becoming a Cult hero at the club to head us in front with only four minutes to go. This sparked wild celebrations among the travelling Airdrie support As the final whistle blew the Diamonds walked of the pitch to the strains of the dam busters tunes from a delighted and exuberant Airdrie support.

After the match I was kindly offered a lift back home by my big mate Diamond F, I thanked him for his offer and told him that we were off to celebrate in the Mallard with a meal and a few drinks.

In the pub we reflected on what turned out to be a fantastic afternoon with Accies being defeated along with Partick and St Johnstone, which meant we pushed ourselves up into joint 5^th place in the league.

At around 7 pm we had to sadly leave the boozer and head out onto the platform for the 7 15 pm train home.

After travelling south and getting a few miles beyond Aviemore the train was terminated because of technical problems. After a half hour delay it was decide that we had to head back to Aviemore where we gulped down a couple of pints before boarding a bus which took us down to Dalwhinnie, where we then got a train to Perth. It was decided that the train was going no further and taxis were laid on for us to get back to Airdrie, which took us straight to my front door at about 1 30 am on Sunday morning at the expense of Scotrail or whoever runs the railways these days.

 Would I make the journey by train in April the next time we play Ross County? Too fekin right I would and I would recommend it to any other Diamond considering going north in April. This was an adventure that I will remember for a long time it has to be said that the kerryoot helped ease the frustration of the situation with regards to the inconvenience of the journey home.

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