The Belgian Job 1998 (Part I)
(All subtitles in this report go to the tune of "I fought the law and the law won")
You can also read the version of the report from the London Fields newsletter, professionally edited by Derek Kotz.
We Fought The Belgians And They Won
Ah, the beer, the cricket, the chips, the rain, the beer, the mayonnaise and the beer…
In what was, according to the BBC, the worst rainstorms for 60 years to hit Belgium, 17 brave lads left the Pub on the Park on Friday 11th September for our annual trip to Belgium to play the two Mechelen teams. On leaving at 11:30am, some of the team were already on their 4th pint, and this set the tone for the whole of the weekend. We took two minibuses, as apparently last year we tried to cram 17 people their bags and cricket stuff into a 17 seater, which didn’t really work. I drove the non-smoking minibus (the people, alright? not the engine), so I had three passengers while the other 14 got into the party bus.
We Fought The Road System and The Road System Won
After an uneventful trip to Dover, then across the Channel to Oostende on the SeaCat, and from there to Mechelen, we arrived at the Nekker Stadium hotel where we were staying and waited for the other minibus. And waited. And waited. Eventually they arrived some 2 hours after us, having apparently decided to take a quick tour of Brussels, rather than use the ring road provided. On getting to the hotel, Tony the other driver asked Crookie if he’d been sitting on the back seat. Crookie said "It wasnae me that spilled the beer or set fire to the seat" - a case of getting your retaliation in first, I think…