Boycott!

And so another Saturday sees me missing our game. On this occasion however no one can accuse me of being a part-timer!

Darlo are playing away at West Auckland and although I'd bought rail tickets to travel up for the game, the decision by the home team to increase admission by 100% (from £5 to £10) has led to calls for a boycott by Darlo fans.

Despite the vague mutterings of the West Auckland chairman trying to justify the increase on additional security costs, it is plainly a money-making exercise taking advantage of our following. It is not the cost per se but the principle and certainly the on-line community are heavily in favour of a boycott.

Such behaviour must be nipped in the bud to deter other clubs from doing the same although praise should go to those away teams we've played so far for not taking such a stance.

Northern League chairman Mike Amos had said this is not the sort of thing they expect to see from their member clubs but nonetheless he'd still prefer that Darlo fans didn't boycott the game. Which does seem to be a mixed message to me.

No doubt some fans will still attend regardless of the price and will not see the point of a boycott.  Whilst I don't agree with them, they're fully entitled to do what they want and they certainly don't deserve the spite and vile that has been levelled at them on the messageboard.  People only seem to like a democracy when it goes their way.


Geuze on cask - excellent!



My non-attendance does me allow to spend some drinking time with the London Millers not far from home in the Black Lion, Plaistow.  Like us, they use this pub as their pre-match watering hole for games at Dagenham.

Sadly the beer selection is a bit boring - Courage Best and three rather obvious beers from Adnams.  I have just the one pint as I bring some of the Millers up-to-date about developments at Darlo.

I resist the temptation to join them at the game - I can find better things to do with £19 - and head into central London and, you've guessed it, the Euston Tap.

Today there is a better-than-usual reason to visit as they're celebrating their second birthday. This comes just a few days after CAMRA awarded declared them to be runners-up in their Conversion to Pub Use award (the winner being the Drop Forge Inn in the Jewellery Quarter, Brum).

To celebrate their birthday, they have some an extra-special selection of beers available. On cask the Kernel Table Beer at just 3% was packed full of flavour whilst the Cantillon Geuze was extremely drinkable.

On keg there were some excellent beers, the pick of them being Kernel/Brodies SCANNERS IPA collaboration, Buxton Imperial Black IPA and making their debut, a couple of beers from the Wild Beer Co, Scarlet Fever and Fresh.

The Wild Beer Co suggest their beers are made with a "combination of ancient and new techniques" to give a "truly memorable drinking experience".  Slightly OTT craft-beer style bollocks? Well both beers are very interesting and enjoyable - far too often you get just one or the other but these beers work for me.

Martin ha travelled as normal so I drop hm a text to see how he is gettign on - he replied to say that he and fellow-steward Claude were watching the game from over a wall. Good lad!


Tigger has been dumped

 After chatting to a few tickers - more than usual today to try the Wild Beer Co beers - I popped along the Circle line to join the London Millers for post-match beers at the Craft Beer Co on Leather Lane.

I'd not seen any league results and so I was quite surprised that Dagenham had won 5-0.  "Evans Out" was my first response but that is always my response to that man.  

Sadly I heard that Darlo had also lost - a last minute penalty scored by old-boy John Campbell according to Martin - which brought a bit of a downer to the day.  However a curry on the way home soon put it all in perspective!

As I wandered back home through the back streets of East Ham I came across this sad looking character who appeared to have been abandoned.  As a Disney chap I should really have rescued the poor mite but I think we already have enough animals in our household...