Design by Brent Diskin
Terry Butcher is a former England captain who now covers the EPL for the BBC as an analyst. Still living in East Anglia not far from Ipswich, the Suffolk club with whom he achieved domestic and European success, his assignment last Saturday was in Liverpool for the visit of Davie Moyes’ Sunderland.
However, a combination of random fires, wayward pedestrians and overcrowded trains made for a more interesting day out than he had imagined.
Butcher’s Block: Liverpool 2: 0 Sunderland: A Day in the Life of an EPL broadcaster
05:30 The alarm goes off. I hop into the shower, no need for a shave, as I had one last night for a charity dinner. Only five hours sleep, three less than normal.
06:00 I drive the 45 minutes to Ipswich Rail Station. It’s dark and cold but thankfully there’s no frost. I try to stop off and buy a newspaper but they have just been delivered to the shops and haven’t been sorted yet.
06:43 The day’s actually off to a good start. I collect the tickets and catch an earlier train – I’m ahead of the game, which means I can get a good breakfast changing trains in London. The Ipswich-London train is quite busy, my eyes feel heavy, I’m ready for a little catnap.
07:35 An unscheduled stop at a village called Ingatestone, in deepest Essex. For what seems like an eternity the train sits motionless in the station, until passengers begin to disembark.
“There’s been a fire on the overhead lines further down the track,” one of the travelers declares, as she has a relative that works on the railway.
I am still 30 minutes from London. There are no buses and a ghost taxi service – get out of this one. For the first time, the prospect of missing the start of match occurs to me.
Ingatestone Station, where Butcher was stuck for 30 minutes
I make a few frantic phone calls and finally I manage to secure a taxi from Chelmsford about five miles away that will take me to Stratford in East London (and now the home of West Ham United) where I can catch the London Underground to Euston for the Liverpool train.
I’m relived but just at that point, the train guards call everyone back on board as the aforementioned fire has been contained and the line is OK to continue.
I cancel the taxi and save £90 in the process. On balance, it’s still a good day, despite having been on the go for three hours and actually being 13 miles FURTHER away from my destination!
08:45 I arrive in London and catch the Underground to Euston, having discovered that there is a later train to Liverpool that arrives in good time to make the match.
09:45 With a tea and a pastry (the good breakfast in London idea having not reboarded the train), I head for the departure gate only to see fellow passengers sprinting towards the carriages on Platform 10. Why the hurry?
Well, they obviously travel frequently on this service because my smug dawdling cost me a seat all the way to Liverpool Lime Street Station, and I am left standing for two and a half hours in one spot on a train outside a toilet. It is not my idea of fun and there are no seating privileges for an ex-England international!
12:28 I arrive in Liverpool later than schedule and despite waiting at the wrong exit, I manage to catch the pre-booked cab to Liverpool’s famous Anfield Stadium. At last I can relax and prepare for the Premier League fixture between Liverpool and Sunderland, as well as taking in the magnificent newly constructed main stand. I could tell it was a new building because the press centre was freezing. It was actually warmer outside where the temperature was two degrees centigrade.
Philippe Coutinho (front row, 3rd left) was a casualty in the hone win over the Black Cats
Photo: Debby von Winckelmann / Prost Amerika
14:35 I despairingly climb the six flights of stairs up to the commentary position, which is so high that I can look into the windows of the planes coming in to land at Liverpool airport! Every fan’s seat at that height should have a parachute underneath.
15:00 – 16:50 Sunderland’s trip to Anfield was a tense but enjoyable match with few chances and a serious injury to the best player on the pitch, Philippe Coutinho. It was a routine win for the hosts but a spirited display by David Moyes’ team.
16.51 The journey home begins.
17:30 I catch another cab back to Liverpool Station, feeling a little peckish, but there’s no time for food as everyone catching the 18:47 to Euston begins to queue at the departure gate. I’ve learned my lesson from the morning. This time I run to the carriage and grab a window seat, elbowing women, children and dogs out of the way. It’s not so much Virgin Trains more like Con-Virgin Strains. The train departs on time and is packed.
19:47 There’s an announcement to say that we will be a fraction late because of a slow train in front.
20:40 There’s a delay again at Milton Keynes – congestion on the track.
21:00 This one is harder to believe. There’s a further holdup as there are trespassers on the track, so the train must stop until the culprits have been removed. This means a ten minute wait and the promise of slower progress into London just in case there is another stupid line walker.
21:45 I finally limp into Euston and the race is on to catch the 22:30 back to Ipswich. I manage to avoid the drunks on the underground and make it to Platform 10 with time to bag a burrito (which is disappointingly cold) for the journey.
23:45 At last, I disembark a train for the final time and drive to my house, exactly 15 hours after leaving it.
00:30 Home sweet home…get into bed, can’t sleep, too tired…
