• After all the build-up, the big day has arrived for the Annesley Reds. How will they pass the last day in Munich before the European Cup Final? We’ll give you one guess…

Wednesday morning we awoke and planned the day. Teada and Stuart were off to the station to meet Bronc (Roy Lane), his brother and Dad and some others from Annesley, and then we planned to go to the Englishcer Gardens for a leisurely pint before the match. Bronc’s dad Alan was a staunch Forest fan and made the trip with his sons Bronc (our leader on the domestic front) and young Steven who was soon to be a staunch fan like the elders. Mick Haskard and Bob Topliss, who also made the trip, had been supporters from the 1960s and their claim to fame was to be pictured in the crowd during the ‘Gillies Out’ campaign.

After a breakfast of ham and cheese and a pastry or two we set out in the morning sun to meet the others. They were going to dump their bags in our room and collect them later. Everyone eventually roused and faced the sunny Munich Wednesday morning, Bronc family and others had made their way up to our room to park their surplus baggage and Rube had found a place to start the day.

The Englishcer Gardens (of all places) was a bit like Newstead Abbey with ponds, trees and flowers with the addition of a bier kiosk and bratwurst stall cooking the German sausages on hot smokey griddles. The smell alone gave me an appetite. The sun came out and a few locals still braved the park among the English hordes, lifting their great beer drinking glasses. We took the others on a tour across the Marienplatz and after the previous day’s, shall we say, ‘eye openers’, we saw a cracking looking bird who sat on a chair enjoying the morning sun. Nothing unusual but she sat in a pose like that of the film shows the day before, in a somewhat comely pose with a skirt so high we could see what she had for breakfast, if you know what I mean! Now Forest fans on tour being Forest fans, someone decided to take a closer look; the girl didn’t flinch and sat there legs wide open. God, I thought the Swedes were the permissive society! Then one lad gets down at ground level and takes a souvenir snap. I won’t go into detail. I’ll tell you it took some explaining when we got back and the prints came back from the chemist.

There was a boating lake and we decided to take a rowing boat round the pond for a laugh. Rube tutted and let us get on with it like children on a day out at Skeggy. Pip and Cumbo already had a boat so me and Kenny Elko paired up and took the oars on one of our own. There was an island in the middle so we headed for that for no particular reason. Before long Annesley mentality took over and we abandoned folk on the island, used the oars to wet all and sundry through and it escalated to boats being overturned and most of our lot were wading ashore in waste-high water. Me and Kenny happened to be in the right place where we caused trouble then rowed away to safety consequently remaining dry. Roe by name and row like bloody hell by nature. Luckily the sun was hot and being wet wasn’t too uncomfortable. A few more beers and it was mid-afternoon, so time to head back and collect our tickets from the room and make our way to the ground.

We were getting a bit merry on the beer but Rube stayed a bit sober as he found a drink called Radler. This was German for shandy. We took the piss, but bore it in mind in case of a future hangover.

Walking away from the Gardens saw Alan Lane, the oldest among us, waving the Forest flag as we sang and jigged with excitement for the forthcoming game, the biggest of our careers so far and even pretty big for the players as well!

We already had the tube sorted out and made our way to the Olympic village. The nearer the ground, the more Reds fans boarded or walked along the streets and roads. There was going to be a good crowd from Nottingham for this one and I wondered if there were many Swedes attending. So far there were only trickles of the opposition who seemed pretty friendly as most Swedes are. I didn’t mind a bit of Abba, I suppose, especially the female side of it.

We left the tube and walked up the slope to the ground. Forest fans had took over the place and we went into the ground behind the goal partially under the giant acrylic glass and steel canopies which cobwebbed half the stadium. The atmosphere was partylike and we outnumbered the Malmo fans who didn’t really make their presence felt. More Forest flags waving in the balmy early evening breeze. The aroma of bratwurst and many other wursts were a far cry from the hot dog sellers on Trentside.

Concludes here…

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