What a wonderful trip!

What more can you say about the fans of U.R. Namur except pay them the ‘highest compliment’ of all and say they really are as crazy as Dulwich Hamlet fans! This was a wonderful trip to play our counterparts from the Belgian Second Division, and to say they rolled out the red carpet and made us welcome was a understatement!
Thank you is too small a phrase to proffer to our first contact Nicolas, and Stephane, the top fan of the Union Boys, but from the bottom of our hearts we do thank them for their hospitality. I am certain that there will be many games in the coming years between “The Rabblers” and the Namur Boys. From small acorns wonderful footballing links grow!
I, personally, arrived on the Wednesday morning in Brussels, a couple of days before everyone else. I decided to do this after discovering that Namur were away to AFC Tubize in a Belgian League game that night. After all, even though I’m not a proper groundhopper-I just like to visit different grounds-let’s be honest, there is something of a ‘latent’ groundhopper in us all!
But I so nearly never got there… Having arrived at the spanking new St Pancras International Eurostar terminus in plenty of time for my 7.00am train to Brussels, I actually boarded the 6.55am service to Paris on the adjacent platform. Oops! I was in the right carriage, and correct seat. Just the wrong train. Mine I could see across the platform! Luckily (extremely fucking lucky to be honest!) they announced this was the Paris service moments before it departed & I grabbed my bags & jacket in a panic, & dived off, literally. Actually falling onto the platform with a stumble, heavily dropping my camera. It took a whack, and was playing up, but it seemed to return to normal after a couple of days, luckily. Though I had another ‘spare’ in my bag anyway. After that there were no mishaps. And I ‘glided’ along to Brussels in just over two hours. After finding my accommodation I had booked for the night I headed back to Midi station & went to Tubize. Nicolas had told me not to get there too early, as there was nothing there. But I ignored him, on the premise that I’d never, ever go back to Tubize, so I had to stroll around the town. I got there just after one, and he was meeting me at seven. Unfortunately he was right. To say it was a small town, with nothing much there was an understatement. But I took a look at the ground, so I could get some nice snaps of it in daylight, and just wandered around. After dusk settled there was not much to see, so I just sat in the waiting room at the station, perusing the backlog of “442” magazines I had brought over for him. And got high from passively smoking the joints from the local teenagers who were using the place as their ‘drug den!’
The game itself wasn’t that bad, and worthy of more than the 0-0 scoreline, which might indicate it was a load of rubbish. The pitch was heavy in places, and cut up easily. Tubize had more of the first half, but were higher up the table, so it was half expected. Nicolas had told me beforehand he would be happy with a draw. But at the final whistle he was an annoyed little Belgian, as he felt that Namur had wasted enough chances in the second half to sneak a win. And you know what? He was right! I was pleased with a point, but we could have won it! Did I say ‘we’? It’s that infectious..a part of my footballing heart is already reserved for UR Namur! At a rough ‘guestimate’ there were around seventy fans in the away half of the covered terrace on the halfway line. And the support was superb. Constant singing and encouragement. The players all came over and applauded at the final whistle, which was superb. Roll on the home game on Saturday!
On Thursday afternoon I got a train for Namur from Brussels & met Nicolas at the station just after five. I was to be his guest at his house that evening, and he was taking me to a local sixth division match at RFC Meux, which is a fourth division ground, but for some unknown reason was playing host to sixth level RAC Leuze versus Ohey. Before we set off to that we dropped my baggage off at his house, and I had the pleasure of seeing Danuta, not to mention their cuddly cat Elliot, again! She managed to rustle up some delicious ‘Croque Monsieur’, which are actually the simple snack of cheese & ham toasties. But they sound so much more exotic, & are that little bit more tasty, when knocked up by Danuta herself! I was also shown the ‘spare room’ on the top floor of his house. Which is actually a small attic room ,which he has ‘converted’ into his own private ‘Football Museum’! Packed with scarves, pennants, shirts, books and –naturally- the ‘PA’ WILSON CUP, which his PSG Belgium Supporters’ Team lifted at Champion Hill last May. If any of you return to Namur then make sure you beg Nicolas to take you to his home so you can view his little museum! J’adore la Cathedral in Namur, and the Citadel isn’t bad either, but “Le Lucas Museum de Football” really is the place to visit!
Before we got to Meuze we stopped off at the training ground of Namur, where the team were training. The team is a mix of part time & full time, with the full timers training in the daytime, and the others having an evening session. We walked around the ground, and then had a quick drink in the bar, and I was actually introduced to their captain Gabor Bukran, who sepaks perfect English. He is actually Hungarian, and has played also in Spain & Austria. But he had a spell at Walsall too, when they were in the Second Division (That’s the Championship to ‘youngsters’!) & told me he loved his stay there. He went to places like Ipswich Town, Nottingham Forest & Manchester City! He said he would actually be at our supporters’ game, & would be making the ceremonial kick off! And it gets better…he would pick our two best players to actually kick off the Namur First Team match in the evening! Bloody hell! I managed to persuade Nicolas to let us nominate our two players to do the honours. And we decided it would be fitting for Andy Tucker & Lawrence Marsh to be on the pitch, as it was their last game in charge of “The Rabblers” before handing over the reigns to Mick O’Shaughnessy & Mark Hutton. Sadly we couldn’t stay and chat as we had to go to Meuze. And the game itself wasn’t that bad at all. The genuine away team, from Ohey were worth the points in their solitary goal victory, but RAC Leuze might have found themselves a shade unlucky not to sneak a draw, as they came back into the game in the second half. The football was excellent, both teams attacking and passing well. I’ll be honest and say I didn’t expect such a standard at a lowly Belgian level.
And so it was Friday. The “Rabblers” invasion was commencing! By evening our tour party would be at a full fifteen strong strength! Nicolas & Danuta were off to work, and kindly let me sleep in, leaving me the key to lock the front door. Honest guv, I had no thoughts at all of doing a runner & ‘cleaning out’ his Museum! I spent the morning wandering around the main Namur cemetery, making a point of stopping at the Commonwealth War Graves plot, signing the visitors book on behalf of “The Rabblers”, and then came a pleasant surprise. Nicolas phoned me, and said he would come and meet me in ten minutes time (It was just after twelve) as he had finished his work early! After stopping home briefly, he then took me on a tour of all the local grounds in the Namur region! We visited seven in all, including the actual Namur ground, where we would watch the First Team game the next night! I won’t bore you with details of them all, I’ll be saving that for a more ‘anoraky’ forum elsewhere!
By now Andy Tucker was due to arrive at the station, so we went there to pick him up, and after a quick coffee or coca cola at Chateau Lucas we headed for the hotel. There were a few ‘teething problems’, but not many. Those who had been booked into triples had one single bed & a double, but it was all ‘lads on tour’ so a bit of ‘topping & tailing’ went on! I’m not sure how much ‘tour virgin’ Andy Murphy enjoyed being ‘teased’ by his room-mates Chris Garrett and Andy Tucker. I would say more but this is a ‘family blog’... No it’s not really, but as the saying goes: ‘What goes on tour, stays on tour’ After settling in we went to a local bar for the evening, which was the smokiest place we’d all been in for a long time, as you can still light up in Belgian bars! A delight for those who indulge, but even they had eyes streaming as we have been so unaccustomed to it, thanks to the draconian ban imposed by the ‘English Health Police’! There’s nothing better than being one of the first of a crowd to arrive. It’s a real buzz as more of the squad arrive in dribs and drabs as each train brings a few more of your party into town. The ‘highlight’ of the night was being introduced to the Namur ‘main man’ Stephane. Not just because it turned out he was a thoroughly decent bloke, but he is a 100% dead ringer for our very own Chris Wheeler! Two peas in a pod. Separated at birth! It really was uncanny! And they spent most of the evening chatting to each other at the bar. No doubt swapping life stories at the bar, before realising they were both put up for adoption a quarter of a century or more ago!
It was an early start in the morning, so some of us drifted off as the early hours of the morning hit. Due to tiredness, out and out comatosed drunkenness, or a combination of both! When I left the dirty tricks were coming into play, and the pesky Belgians were playing their “It’s A Knockout” let’s get him knocked out style Joker, by plying our keeper Matt Hammond with treble vodkas, which he obligingly downed, earing him the nickname of ‘animal’ from them. Boy, were they shocked when he turned up to play, and raring to go a few hours later! This was the last public sighting of Phil Baker’s “Ladywell FC Bologna 2008” tour polo shirt, which he was showing off, & bragging about, prior to his trip there, this coming weekend, I believe. It wasn’t seen again on the trip, which was perhaps unfortunate, as he should have kept it more in his sights. As, what Big Nose has since described as a ‘snivelling coward’ walked into his room and chopped the emblem from it, leaving the shirt looking somewhat like a Romanian flag, once Ceausescu had been overthrown! So beware in Europe, as “The Rabblers” easily metamorph into a Wimbledon style “Crazy Gang!” Fortunately it has been agreed to reimburse him for the damage to the garment, not least because he has threatened to dump the entire Supporters’ Team kit into his dustbin if someone doesn’t…
The game itself: well I’ve never been one for reports. But suffice to say we did ourselves proud. Each and every one of us! The final score was 6-6, and we were leading 6-4, with five minutes to go. Once again Nicolas played his dirty little Blegian cheating trick and played his ‘played at a far higher level than Wrightie ever did’ brother who waltzed through us each time he was on the pitch. In fact it wouldn’t be unfair to say that if he wasn’t turning out then we would surely have won. But the record books now show that we have played Nicolas THREE TIMES over ninety minute games (2 v. PSG Belgium, & now once against Namur) and HE is yet to be victorious! That must be what they mean by ‘cheats never prosper!’. What with always bringing his brother in as a 'ringer' AND having his dad referee the matches! To be fair Papa Lucas was ok in the middle, a guilty conscience after his Parisien debacle last year perhaps? But this match wasn’t about winning or losing, or even drawing. It was about making friends, and building relationships between set of fans from across Europe. And if that was our sole aim then we certainly achieved that! After the game crate upon crate of beer (& a couple of bottles of coca cola for the non drinkers!) were brought out as we chewed the fat & chatted with each other in the car park! Bizarre, but fun. In truth we’d have been just as happy to rest out weary legs in a local bar, an-eventually-that’s what we did. Going to one of their local ones where they meet up for their bus before away games. The chap behind the jump being a former player of theirs. Some of us went back to the hotel to dump our bags, & have a quick shower or ‘power nap’. But those who stayed (sadly I’d buggered off) were delighted when the actual Namur first Team manager & his right hand man, both from Chile, popped in to say hello!
The match itself was an eight o’clock kick off, but we were due to be at the ground at six, as Nicolas had persuaded us all to purchase VIP tickets for 42 euros a pop. Sounds a lot, but that is just under thirty quid. And for that we got, wait for it, a three course meal, a ticket in the Kop (which would have been 15 euros alone) and a team sheet. I mention that because they didn’t do a match programme, and they weren’t available on the normal turnstiles, so it was a nice little souvenir. Talking of souvenirs I snaffled the menu card on our table which I got all of our party to sign! How sad is that eh? Oh and as if that wasn’t all value enough for money there was also free coffee and biscuits at half time in the partitioned off VIP part of the main bar at half time! And as the saying goes: ‘good manners cost nothing’. Which proved to be the case as the actual President of the UR Namur club took time out from his meal to personally come over to our two tables and shake hands with us all!
The game itself? Well let’s just say it was the only letdown of the weekend! Namur put in, what must have been, one-if not the-worst performance of the season, going tamely down 2-0 to the visitors KV Red Star Waasland. Perhaps it was Andy & Larry who jinxed them when they took the kick off, along with one of the Namur Boys?
The support was excellent, and we were in their section of the ‘Kop’ where the main Namur Boys go. In the seats behind the goal, but standing up all the way htrough. As football should be! We joined in some of the songs, some of which were in English. One or two of which we will ‘nick’ to use behind the goal back home! Others were just too undecipherable or plain crazy for us to understand! Their top man Stephane was a superb double act with his sidekick who had the big drum. I don’t know about you but four days later I’m still walking down the road humming ‘la,la,la,la,la,la! UR Namur, UR Namur!’ to myself. And as for the one where they were rattling their keys in the air & starting singing ‘we wish you a merry christmas’ to us in English, & we responded with ‘jingle bells’…you just had to be there! And yes, we know it was in January…
At the final whistle half of the team came over to applaud the home fans, and us I suppose by association. You could tell they meant it, but looked embarrassed to do so, knowing they didn’t, perhaps, deserve such excellent support on this occasion, as they had performed well below par. Contrast the away fans going mental in their enclose, as their squad ran over to applaud them. But they just looked like muppets, as there were more players than fans. In fact more Dulwich Hamlet supporters had travelled all the way from England to support Namur, than had made the short trip across Belgium to get behind Waasland!
The atmosphere in the clubhouse was, understandably, a bit flat. But the beer wasn’t. And a few more farewell glasses were sunk. We were then dropped off back at our hotel. It was with heavy hearts that we bade farewell to our Belgian guests, but also with hope in our hearts, as we knew that without a doubt we will return next season to play them again. Hopefully, with a match in Namur, before going on to an away match with them, simply to please the ‘little bit of a groundhopper’ that is in us all!
At Sunday lunchtime we briefly saw Danuta & Nicolas at the station, before eight of us went to another Second Division match in Brussels: Union Saint-Gilloise versus United Overpelt-Lommel. Thankfully a bit better than the match the previous night, with the visitors winning by the odd goal in three. The Stade Joseph Marien is one of the most traditional, magnificent grounds in the country. With the outer brickwork on the main stand being listed, and a huge, open terrace on the other. If ever you are in Brussels check out to see if they have a home match. You won’t be disappointed! In their club/pub under the stand there was a t-shirt on the wall from a Supporters’ tournament last year. This is the one that Nicolas has mentioned, and Namur fans’ entered. This year it is on 31st May, & is a 7-a-side competition. And we are hoping to enter at least one team. Watch this space for further details. And there is also the possibility of Namur Supporters’ coming over to play us once their season is over in mid-May this year.

So that’s my ‘little’ review of our trip to Namur in January 2008. I hope you enjoy reading it as much as I’ve enjoyed being a part of the trip.
As I said the Namur Boys were wonderful hosts, we know what a great host Nicolas has been to us in the past, both in Namur and Paris, but I still think that the sheer joy of this tour exceeded most of our wildest expectations.
Once again thank you to all from Namur for making us so welcome, we look forward to visiting again in the not too distant future.

If anyone else has any tour reviews & memories which they would like to share-especially if they differ from mine!- then please feel free to email them to me at:
mishi.morath@southwark.gov.uk
(In English please though. Sorry Belgians!)