FC Isle of Man

 A lovely summers weekend awaited me, for the first home game of the season vs Litherland Remyca. By far the hardest north west counties league ground to get to and cost a small fortune but I was looking forward to this one massively. To get there we took the Isle of Man Steam Packet Ferry, from Liverpool to Douglas, booking the first class area it was very comfortable and peaceful bar a few noisy Americans and a lady opposite who thought she was something but the staff were good and the free snacks and drinks were a bonus, sadly the meal I wanted wasn't available so I had to order a meat feast pizza when I arrived from the strangest branch of pizza hut I've ever seen, it didn't even have a menu on show.


We had a good look around the main area of Douglas and sat on the sea front for a good while, as well as sampling the local delicacy that is kipper and marmalade sandwich, a local fish shop sells them for a very reasonable price. The ground really is too far to walk to, so we ordered a taxi from the hotel, upon arrival we seemed to wait an age before they opened the turnstiles. I'd bought tickets in advance, slightly dearer than other clubs in the league but with their travel costs I suppose it's understandable. Pin badges were available near the turnstile. The bowl, has plenty of good quality seating, it does however lack any good food or catering options, the van that was there only sold coffee and cakes so make sure you eat beforehand. 


Onto the game and it was a typical early season affair, both teams unwilling to gamble and trying to suss each other out, it was more like watching a game of chess. There were very few chances throughout the whole game, one player that caught the eye was John Osifo for Litherland. The crowd was 500+ which they achieve most weeks, excellent for this level of football, they were trying to drum up interest in the town centre earlier in the day, good to see from a dedicated fan base. It finished 0-0 which was no suprise at all.


On the way back, disaster, the ferry was cancelled, so if you do go, beware of booking this mode of transport, they offered us no viable plan b, so we ended up taking a refund, but no compensation offered and we paid, last minute for a logan air flight instead. It did the job and we caught our connecting train home as planned, but we were £300 out of pocket. My advice if you are going, fly don't sail. Isle of Man airport is like a blast from the past and they seem to take a sick pleasure in inconveniencing innocent people, they were nearly laughing when they confiscated my jar of jam.


Overall a good experience, I would return one day but it's expensive. Highly recommend the nearby kfc for post match food. Clean and convenient. 























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