As you grow older and start having things to do like working for a living, it becomes harder to follow your team home and away to every game, especially if your job involves a lot of travelling around anyway.
You are always checking fixture lists and schedules to make sure that wherever possible the two don’t coincide.
From the mid-nineties onwards the logistical problems have got worse and sometimes you have to go to quite extraordinary lengths so as not to miss your heroes. In 1994, I was travelling in the United States and managed to get a cheap flight home at short notice when Leeds got to the Challenge Cup semi-final against St Helens at Wigan. It was a hugely emotive occasion, one of the most exciting and tense ties you could ever wish to see as we battled to make Wembley for the first time for sixteen years. As soon as Ellery went in for the late try that ensured victory, my joyous celebrations were tempered by the fact that I knew I’d be delving into my savings again for the final a month later. As it turned out, that proved to be a very expensive loss!
In more recent times, we were playing away at Salford one Wednesday evening and I had a meeting in Belfast that morning. I altered my arrangements by changing my flight to Manchester rather than Leeds/Bradford airport so that the trip to the Willows on my return would be easier, even though that meant making a four thirty start in the morning. Of course no-one predicted the intervening snowstorm which made the M62 virtually impassable.
Despite that, I struggled to the ground, arriving at about an hour before kick-off where only fifty other fans were waiting. The Leeds team bus got there at about the same time minus Gary Mercer who had missed it because of the weather, even though he had run three miles to the ground and he was following behind in Alf Davies’ car.
All I can remember is Alan Tait coming into the stand with us and saying ‘I’m not playing out there I’ll get ******* hypothermia’. Needless to say the match was called off.
Richard Stevens
Originally published in 'Headingley Rugby Voices' Recollections of supporters, compiled by Phil Caplan.
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Memory added on September 18, 2012
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