Saturday 30th October 2023 - Kick off 3pm

A back story…the season isn’t going so well. We lost to Cardiff 3-2, and last Monday we conceded an equaliser against Huddersfield in the 94th minute. Spirits are low. There are grumblings amongst the fans (that’ll be the undercooked pie) and our star strikers (centre forwards, not doctors), are not performing. 

But not everything always goes your way, and one of the necessary character requirements for any Coventry City fan is to face adversity with grace and acceptance. And then there’s the hope. The hope that suddenly, the (American) donkey (Haji Wright) who you paid $10 million for in the summer, and who couldn’t hit a cows arse with a banjo, might suddenly turn into Lionel Messi overnight and shoot our way up the table. 

A note: In these blogs,and especially the football (yes,football) blogs, the vocabulary may seem somewhat strange. If you are struggling with any of the terms, please drop into The Queens Pantry, buy some Cadburys chocolate, get Sam to put the kettle on, and she’ll explain it all to you over a cup of Yorkshire Tea (I am contractually obliged to mention tea, chocolate and The Queens Pantry in every blog. And to swear. All 4 done in one f**king paragraph).

With hopes held high, on Saturday morning, young Blogit and Scarpa embarked on their 3rd away trip of the season. And this week, it’s Queens Park Rangers (QPR). Coach leaves at 10.30, the sun is shining. We’re full of hope and Greggs sausage rolls. Greggs is a British Institution. It is a bakery that sells everything that gives you a heart attack. Walking into Greggs is like being backstage at the Jerry Springer Show. 

Loftus Road, the home of QPR, is only 98 miles away. But. And it’s a big Kardashian style but. QPR, Queens Park Rangers, Loftus Road, is in London. West London. And the traffic is crap. Especially on a Saturday. What should be an hour and a half journey will take about 3 and a half. Young Scarpa, sleeps. It’s tough being 16, being on a PS5 till the early hours. The boy sleeps whilst Dad goes through his Queens Pantry cool bag and nicks his Cadburys chocolate and Yorkshire tea. The fat b**tard (all 4 in one sentence. A record).

We travel down the M40 towards London. We make good time. And then we hit the M25. In 1989, Chris Rea penned the song ‘Road To Hell’ about the M25. His career took off, and he had an even bigger hit with ‘Driving Home For Christmas’. Things were looking up for Chris, especially when he teamed up with Dire Straits. However, instead of joining forces and going for Chris Straits, they made a career-killing decision to run with Dire Rea. Thank you. Goodnight. 

The M25 is a car park. We sat there for an hour. The traffic crawled. We entered London. Slowly. Onto the North Circular Road and towards White City. Home of the BBC. White City was named after a period of British history. No, not that bit. It is named after a big exhibition which took place here in 1908. It celebrated a new alliance between France and Britain, the Entente Cordiale. The grand pavilions were painted white or decorated in white marble making it The Great White City. So there. Woke-ists. 

QPR originally played their games in White City until they moved to Loftus Road. They were formed in 1882 and were originally a church team. Most of their players hailed from the Queens Park area of London. In 1981, they were the first team in Europe to install astroturf at their stadium. But astroturf is awful. The ball bounces funny and players got injured. They didn’t have helmets and wear trousers, you see. They went back to grass in 1988. Asked if he preferred grass to astroturf, their star player at the time, Rodney Trotter, said he didn’t know, he hadn’t smoked astroturf before. 

The good news. There is a KFC less than a mile from Loftus Road. No seating, and quite slow service. However, the chicken was banging and the fries were hot. 7 out of ten. The better news. In 12 second half minutes, City banged 3 goals in. The bad news. The American Donkey still couldn’t hit a cow’s backside. He’s going to need a bigger banjo. At full time, City had won 3-1. The previous games faded from the memory and City are on their way up the table. The even better news. Getting out of London is a lot easier than getting in. Only 2 hours to go before we get a celebratory kebab…. Play Up Sky Blues