By Albatross
September 30 2002

Exiles treasure the Home Games they get to and Albatross is no exception. In the latest "A View from Afar" article, he remembers one or two of the more special moments. Every now and again, an exile like me gets to go to a rare Home Match. These are games to be treasured, one of those very few times when you get to visit the hallowed turf, spent money in the Club Shop (assuming there's anything in there!), and join your fellow Poolies in (hopefully) cheering the lads on to another win.

Things don't always go according to plan of course. I was one of over 5000 disappointed Poolies after the Rushden game on Saturday, the difference being for me that I faced a 140 mile drive home afterwards! I'm sure there's one or two other Poolies who will have been faced with even longer trips home.

Trips back home to see my parents frequently end up being arranged around Pools home games - fortunately they know and understand this, being Season Ticket holders at Middlesbrough. A quick perusal of the fixture list is usually in order before committing myself to something; a good example was last season, when I was able to combine a visit to my parents with the last home game of the season - and was rewarded with the 7-1 thumping of Swansea.

Christmas is a time when I usually look to take in at least one home game, but the time of year tends to mean that the game is postponed as often as not. Last Boxing Day I got as far as the Car Park before finding out the Scunny game was off! Fortunately this time I didn't have far to go back....

Cast your mind back to March 2000, and there was another game I was at: the friendly against Brann at the Vic. I was in the middle of a week off work, and was able to take in the game. The thing that sticks in my mind most from that was some of H'Angus's antics - I remember him getting hold of some of the Brann players tracksuits and stuffing them up his shirt - before then trying to sell them back to them! The Brann players were bemused to say the least!

The trip that sticks in my mind most though came in those dark days of the 98/9 Season. Pools were struggling near the bottom, Mick Tait was in charge - though not for much longer - and Pools looked set for the drop. I'd gone back home after the usual parental Christmas visit, feeling too depressed about Pools chances to hang around for the New Year game against Cambridge. No sooner had I reached home though, than I got an excited Phone Call from home. Had Tait been sacked at last? Had they won the Lottery? No, it was that signing that gave new life to Pools fans - Peter Beardsley had arrived.

There was no question about missing the game. A day trip it would be to see Beardo pull on the Blue and White shirt for the first time. An early morning start, drop in at Billingham, and then off to the match, with new hope in my heart - and those of the then bumper crowd of 3800 that turned out to see the legend play for us.

The 18th minute goal, right in front of the Town End, was a memorable moment - one of the most memorable in his brief Pools career - and it didn't seem to matter too much that we only drew the game 2-2. Beardsley had arrived, I had seen him play in a Pools shirt, and everything would surely be all right. It took the departure of Tait, the arrival of Chris Turner, and the signings of Gary Jones and Chris Freestone, but we did avoid the dreaded drop; and I'm sure that the Beardsley Moment is something that quite a few exiles will have as one of their cherished memories.