Dublin Hammers Trip - Sunderland - Sunday 22th May 2011

West Ham 0 vs Sunderland 3

What this trip would be like was put into perspective for me from an early stage when I received a call at 10.15am from one of the Eddie Cox’s on the Saturday morning which went as follows...
EC(1) “Where are you?”
ME “I’ve just come through Security in the airport”
EC(1) “Well hurry up, we’re all waiting in the bar!!!”
And so it came to pass the Dublin Hammers 20th Anniversary End of Season Trip was going to start like all those before... in the Airport bar!

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I arrived wearing my 20th anniversary T Shirt and immediately received a yellow card - I didn’t realise we weren’t to wear them until the game on Sunday. I pleaded my case but to no avail and instead was forced to change into a spare DH shirt I had brought with me.

Onto the plane and the fun starts as we question why the President is down towards the back. When the next Presidential election will be held and who will go forward. What time the dinner is being served and will there be enough sandwiches to go around. We land on the second attempt and get to the car park to find the best bus we’ve ever had awaiting - nice one Jim! On the bus and Timmy loads up the 20th anniversary DVD for us all to watch and laugh, while he managed to sell one to just about everyone present. I have to add that they are a quality piece of work well presented – nice one Timmy!

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Liamo sets out the schedule of events that will take place over the next 36 hours – hotel check in, do what you want for a few hours then meet in The Spotted Dog at 5.00pm for a general get together, O’Gradys later on, next day match at 4.00pm – meet in the Queens beforehand, after the game meet in the Earl of Wakefield and back to the airport.

Onto the hotel where the rooms are ready, so we drop our bags, have a quick pint and head to the Club shop. We expected there might be some bargains to be had in the shop but for once I bought nothing – I was afraid they would abuse my hard earned cash and pay Dyer for another season!

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We did meet in the Spotted Dog, watched the rugby, had a bite to eat and then the fun started. The President dissolved the sub committee with an official missive to Chairman Eddie Cox, the Presidents speech was as ever worthy of the occasion, he spoke of the works carried out by the sub committee during their term and quoted our own President McAleese’s comments regarding the royal visit and felt that the sub committee had in turn built bridges in the Club, he summarised their time as “a lot done and more to do”. Eddie Cox accepted the letter and thanked them for their work and praised the organisational abilities of the group.

It was then time for the presentation of the Hammer of the Year Award which normally goes to one of the players but the President felt that this year the award should go to Mick Tobyn (Mark Ward’s mate) which took him completely by surprise – he is now an honorary member of the Dublin Hammers. And to round off the time – a sing song with some fine renditions of old classics. Brian Madden transformed into Frank Sinatra with a number of very well sung numbers while Liamo belted out his old favourite – Billy Don’t be a Hero, complete with actions.

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Later on, we decided to head up to the West Ham Supporters Club for a benefit disco for Jonjo. The place was very quiet when we arrived, but we soon changed all that... as we drank, danced, had photos taken, shook hands and generally ensured that all in attendance knew the DHs were in town.

Bit by bit we headed to O’Grady where we had to wait until some boxing match was over before we could enjoy the band and get our own singers up on stage. Suffice to say it was late when we left in various states having had a ball of a night.

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Next morning and it’s drop the bags in the hotel for collection and off to the Barking Inn for the big breakfast – using my new found shortcut (we got lost!). We ran into the Belfast Hammers in the pub and they told us all about the cost of their trip. On hearing this it was decided that Jimmy Conway is to remain as Travel Secretary until he gets the job done properly for once!!!!

On to the Queens where we meet the Drogheda Hammers, Brian and Caroline and the usual crew of Hayley, Dawn and Steve. General discussions surrounding the team, today’s match, next season, Robbie Keane’s misses etc. before we head to the ground. We get great seats in the Booby Moore Upper (all in our 20th Anniversary T Shirts) and watch a terrible performance from the team. By half time we’re wondering is it worth going back for the second half. Our T Shirts prove very popular as various Hammers look to get photos taken with us, congratulate us on our arduous journey and offer money to buy the shirts! By the time the game has finished (and the less said about it the better) we leave for the Wakefield in disgust.

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The bus arrives, we say our goodbyes, get our takeaways and head for Gatwick. As Liamo dishes out the beer, Dessie dishes out the chicken and chips and we all have a laugh at the various stories of the previous night, we all agreed that this has been a great trip and Liamo and Jim’s answer on the DVD to the question “What’s your favourite trip?... The next One” really is spot on when you think about it – the trips just get better and better each time! By the way, the bus driver thought we were going to Stanstead so we arrived late at the airport and had to rush to catch our Ryanair special. Next season’s trip will see us playing some real football in the Championship.

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Many thanks to Gerry Murtagh for the report and to Brian Madden and Peter Grogan for the photos.

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