There were three people at Boston Manor Playing Field for Cardinal Manning Old Boys v UCL Academicals in the AFA Senior Cup on Saturday and 41,516 at Stamford Bridge to see Chelsea v Nottingham Forest in The FA Cup on Sunday.
"The Barber" spent Saturday morning in the office at Soho Square compiling an England quiz for a sponsor and set off for the match at around 12.30.
There was the usual minefield of weekend engineering works on the Tube but fortunately the Piccadilly line was working normally and I was at Boston Manor within the hour.
The ground was a bit on the scruffy side, with the changing room block totally covered in graffiti.
Sliding about in the mud outside, I saw a hand-written list of the afternoon’s matches stuck on a wall. My match, an AFA Senior Cup Fourth Round tie which had already been postponed twice, was due on Pitch 6. But, looking around, there didn’t seem to be six pitches.
The helpful groundsman told me I should go "round the back" and, sure enough, there it was. The Accies were already limbering up. I could’ve watched a team called "Charing Cross" play on Pitch 2. I don’t know how good they are – but hopefully they don’t have ideas above their station.
We kicked off at 1.52, with extra-time a possibility, and Accies were very energetic in the first few minutes. Having weathered the storm, Cardinal Manning then created a couple of chances themselves.
I think Clint Eastwood, or one of his characters, was "the man with no name" but the home side’s centre-half was "the man with no number". Curiously, though, they had two No.9s playing up front.
In stoppage time at the end of the first half Accies’ No.15 nipped in between the ‘keeper and a defender to poke in what turned out to be the only goal of the match. The opposition thought he was offside. I did too.
It was quite a noisy afternoon, the ground being close to a motorway, a Tube line and the Heathrow flight-path.
There were more quiz questions to craft on Sunday morning before going off to Chelski, changing at Notting Hill Gate for Fulham Broadway. There was a teenage girl on the platform wearing a No.8 Chelsea shirt with "MRS LAMPARD" on the back. When I got off the train, there were shifty-looking blokes whispering "Anyone got any spare tickets?", something I don’t remember hearing at Boston Manor.
Everyone always seems very jolly outside Chelsea’s ground. A very pleasant atmosphere. I found myself in the back row of the West Stand Upper, about two miles from the pitch.
The Blues scored a couple of early goals and that was that really. Near the end there was a PA announcement that due to delays on the District line, supporters were advised to walk to Earl’s Court. You’re having a laugh – that’s miles away!
I sneaked out with five minutes to go to give myself some sort of advantage. Actually there was nothing wrong with the Tube and I was back home in half-an-hour.
Some rascal on the train with a radio was telling everyone that Chelsea had added a fourth goal in the last minute. I certainly fell for it.
Edgware v Hayes in the Middlesex Senior Cup last night (0-3) was my 102nd match of the season and 5,234th all told.