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| Blackpool and Norwich clash during the FA Cup clash at Bloomfield Road on January 27 2007 |
Having watched Peter Grant's side hammer Tamworth live on BBC in early January I eagerly awaited the fourth round draw - remember City were having a miserable season and had parted company with Nigel Worthington just three months earlier.
The fourth round draw paired City with a trip to League One Blackpool and within an hour I had already booked two Ryan Air flights from Stansted to Blackpool.
Being January, the flights were advertised at only a penny each way, and after tax worked out at something like £13 each. My FA Cup-tinted glasses quickly fogged over my vision as an image of a packed plane taking off from Stansted full of City fans entered my mind.
I contemplated buying more of these cheap flights to then sell on eBay as I was sure was being something of a pioneer by flying up to the game, rather than driving or taking the coach.
My decision not to buy loads of return tickets to Blackpool was vindicated when myself and my then girlfriend (thankfully now my wife) arrived at Stansted at 6am on the morning of January 27.
There was clearly not going to be any major rush to board the plane as the departure terminal at Stansted revealed no more than 10 other City fans.
We boarded at 7.25am bound for Blackpool.
To say it was a short uneventful flight was an understatement. Thirty minutes later we arrived with an announcement that we were now at "Blackpool International Airport" and the time was now "7.55am". It all seemed a tad bizarre seeing as we had hardly crossed any major international time zones!
Arriving in Blackpool before 8am on a Saturday in January is a tad grim. We took a bus to the town centre and by 8.20am we were kicking our heels in the town centre, which proved to be a theme for the weekend.
An hour or so later we popped into the grimmest greasy spoon ever and had the most appalling fried breakfast - everything apart from the toast was deep fried - the eggs, the mushrooms, you name it. It was horrific.
We meandered on to our guesthouse around midday - the chintzy Hotel Bambi, just a five minute walk from Bloomfield Road. I took the chance for a nap in front the lunchtime kick off with a two foot cuddly Bambi on the bed for company.
By half two we decided to head to the game and there were still 20 minutes to go before the game started when we already standing on the terrace. It was freezing and already getting dark. I bought one of those half and half scarves for the first time ever and wore it during the game, standing on the temporary terrace the length of the whole ground. Bloomfield Road only had two sides, the rest of the ground was still being built.
I don't recall much about the game. City played in white and green and took the lead through Darren Huckerby just before the break. Wes Hoolahan was booked for falling over in the box and Lee Croft played well.
Blackpool's Ian Evatt equalised towards the end and debutant Chris Brown was sent off in the last ten minutes and the game finished 1-1.
The thousand or so City fans made all the noise, but just as surreal as the surroundings were, it was over far too soon. By ten past five we were back at the Bambi with a warm drink,
That night involved plenty of pub time and loads of food but worse of all, the return flight to Stansted wasn't until 7.45pm the following day.
After a long drawn out Sunday of wandering around Blackpool on a cold January Sunday we couldn't wait to get back to East Anglia.
The return journey was pretty uneventful but we had a shocking landing. The plane came into land and just as it was about to touch down shot back into the air. We think the pilot had misjudged the entrance as it shot back in the air at a crazy angle.
It seemed an appropriate end for a bizarre weekend and incredible that it was five years ago. City won the replay 3-2 with a Chris Martin brace - but the game against Blackpool was the last time City have played in the fourth round on a Saturday - until tomorrow's game against West Brom that is.
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