Chris Maclean: watching the football

I went to watch the football last night.

One of my fellow licensees, who had read a previous blog about football in pubs, challenged me on Monday to justify what I had written and invited me to come and watch an important game at his pub. So last night was the night. I don't play chicken. A challenge is a challenge. And I was pleasantly surprised.

The first thing I have to say was that, despite my expectations, it was quiet. There were plenty of people there. Dave, the landlord, assured me that many of the people there were teachers and professional people. They were actually watching the match. Maybe I was expecting Neanderthals. They weren't. These were mostly decent people, in a sea of red and blue, watching their team. One chap did ask which team I was supporting and was surprised I answered "neither".

The second thing I noticed was how many people wanted to talk to me during the match. Some knew me from this pub. Some knew what I had written and wanted to correct me. One particular chap wanted to tell me about a charitable initiative he was working on. This is very interesting. The town is very good at throwing its weight behind events. We have a good calendar here and I need to take advantage of it. But his idea, to raise money for a particular charity, is good because I believe the town pubs, collectively, can actively make a difference. What if, for example, the pubs got together behind a single charity initiative once a year? What if we chose a suitable charity and made all our efforts into that for a day, week, month or year? It could be significant.

I've offered him a duck race. I think I still have access to about 1,000 tiny numbered plastic ducks. We've a suitable stretch of water and it is a brilliant way of making money.

And finally I enjoyed watching the landlord work. He clearly knew his window of opportunity, the chance to take money, was one and a half hours. During that time he was an adrenaline fuelled machine doing what he needed to do best. After the football people left, he could relax a little. But that intense period was a joy to watch.

So I've done a football match. It was fun. But the consolation is the return fixture. I've seen his football, now he needs to come here again - I've got morris dancing on the 10th.