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Showing posts from 2014

Dementia Poem

Last week I was due to do an open mic session for my University's open night for 'National Poetry Day'. Unfortunately, due to ending up in hospital (I'm fine!), I was unable to attend and therefore read.  Safe to say I was unhappy about this, despite the fact I'm probably not that great at poetry. Regardless, I'll give you some background information. DeMontfort University (my uni) decided to base our theme around 'memory'. My boyfriend of a year's family and I have become, naturally, very close. During the time that I have been with him however, his grandmother has gradually declined in health due to suffering with dementia. I would first like to say that dementia is a horrible disease and if there's anyone out there reading this who has been through the torment of being close to someone with dementia, I salute you and my heart goes out to you all.  It's been a hard year for my boyfriend's family and the chances are that it wi

Here we go again...

Last time I wrote a blog about THE game, I wrote it with an air of optimism that the clash between the two teams was going to be (finally) a great match of football between the two. Unfortunately my team were less than impressive that day- who am I kidding? We were diabolical. And the only good football came from Derby. Although it still leaves a bad taste in many Red Dog's mouths, I think it's safe to say we're  now recovered from that shambolic time and feeling much better about the future of our club. So the first thing to say is, and I quote the title, "Here we go again..." I was planning on writing my blog the day before the game although I wasn't really expecting to wake up this morning being quite the shaking nervous-wreck state that I am. I am fine now though. I think... I say last time (march) I had an air of optimism for an all round good clash for the two teams, admittedly on the morning of the game I looked at our remaining players

The Beautiful Game

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The title says it all really. The beautiful game- football. Now this blog isn't going to review games or predict the season ahead, nor is it going to scrutinize or praise teams. This blog is purely to give football fans something to relate to. It's very often said that the passion a person has for a football club is something which you can't actually explain, but despite this fact, we as football fans will spend our whole lives trying to explain it anyway. For those who don't quite "get" football, our passion is ludicrous, over the top, pathetic is another word I've heard to describe it. I suppose this blog can be written to show these people what passion for football is all about. Now don't get me wrong, football isn't our lives. It is however a huge part of it. Football fans don't tend to go more than a day before checking up on Sky Sports News or reading up on new transfer rumors, managers being sacked or media speculations. I

I haven't been looking forward to this...

5 days later, I feel as though I'm possibly finally recovered from my huge emotional hangover. Don't get me wrong, I've felt worse... The play off trouncing against Yeovil had me in tears long into the new season... but the game on Saturday was up there with one of the worst days I've ever experienced; however, only from a performance perspective.  I do have to come out and say it; Derby County 5 - 0 Nottingham Forest.  I was never entirely confident entering the game. There was an element of hope surrounding us, but from what I could tell on social network sites and from fellow bloggers, in honesty, Forest fans went into that game with a 'if we get a point it's an achievement' view.  Nevertheless it was a typical derby day feeling. Derby County were trying out their new South Stand regime and had moved the away fans into the corner of the ground- I'll say more on this later. The weather was pleasant and the air was tense.  The game- f

96

I'm currently studying English Language and Creative Writing at University and you've probably already realised that I'm a slight football nut.  I've decided to combine hobby with study and with the anniversary of the Hillsborough disaster approaching I've written a free verse poem about the disaster.  For those who know poetry you'll probably already know this but free verse means it's a bit different, doesn't really have a rhyming pattern or rhythm and can be written quite snappily to create emotion etc. Also the structure is a bit crazy for effect.  As a Forest fan who does like Liverpool the Hillsborough disaster is something very close to my heart. My grandfather was in the Forest end on the day and it changed his view on football from then. Not many people need telling of the devastating effects it had on the world, but for those who don't know, 96 people lost their lives in a crush at Hillsborough football stadium.  Controver

Glasgow Rangers

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I primarily have my boyfriend, Conner Crowder (@MrRamtastic), to thank for this trip.  Conner, happy to visit Ibrox Despite my relationship indeed being a Forest Derby local rival love affair, Conner spent 10 years of his life growing up in Ireland and due to the separation between the Catholics and Protestants, he was often singled out for being English. Did he bow down to it? No, of course not. He instead decided to adopt Glasgow Rangers as a second team in order to annoy the Catholics further... So, after informing me he'd never been to Ibrox before I decided that for his 23rd birthday it was about time he lived his dream of attending a Rangers game. And then my dad got jealous so he got a ticket for his birthday too. A huge thanks to him as well, who took us to the game.  Saturday March 15th 2014 We'd driven up to Carlisle the night before to cause less stress on our journey for the following day. Rangers had changed the kick off time to 12:45 (t

Unable to comment.

Unfortunately, or possibly fortunately, I have not been able to attend the last two games for Forest. This means I missed two draws, one away against Middlesbrough (1-1), the other at home against Doncaster (0-0). From what I've heard, neither game was particularly inspiring. This leaves me in a less than able place to comment on the games themselves. Andy Reid appears to have made a miraculous recovery from his 6 week injury after less than 6 days. Good news supposedly, though I'm sure I'm not the only Forest fan panicking that his early departure in the Doncaster game isn't another knock that he's picked up. This could be the worst case scenario, especially as we have our bitter rivals, Derby County, to play this Saturday. Further worrying is the fact that we have made so questionable starting team selections over the past few games.  This could lead to a few tears before the game, especially if Forest fans see likes of Collins, Harding, Moussi and Half

Barnsley 1-0 Nottingham Forest

With a world of controversy currently surrounding the Nottingham Forest camp over the past few weeks, it's no wonder the fans went into this game with caution. New injuries picked up by new signing but the yet-to-impress Rafik Djebbour and Simon Cox left more groans among the Forest faithful. This information was soon followed by the news that the not so outspoken but opinionated Forest gaffer will not do any interviews till March 26th following his recent 5 match touchline ban for 'abusing' a referee. Up to yet, what that term means we are unsure of; all we understand is that he's certainly made his feelings known on the poor refereeing performance during the Forest and Leicester draw. The increased injury list, lack of manager and the "lower team" curse that Forest carry with them mean that a trip to Oakwell (a place we often struggle to pick up points at) left little for Forest fans to get excited about, but still we held faith that we may pick up

It's nearly here...

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As an avid Forest fan, my heart is beginning to race at the thought of the upcoming weeks. I'm sure if you approached any other Forest fan or Derby fan for that matter, you will find that their nerves are also starting to settle in. It's nearly here.  Yes, it's the game that everyone eagerly searches for when the June fixture list comes out; the East Midlands Derby.  The second round for these two feisty rivals is sure to be one to go down in history as potentially one of the worst or best (depending on the outcome) local derbies most of our fans will have witnessed in a long time.  One of the things we DO agree on. RIP Brian Clough Jack Hobbs scoring the winner vs Derby September saw round one swing towards Forest with a late first half header from Forest defender Jack Hobbs the only thing separating the two teams. Whilst neither team were up to scratch that day, it wasn't over all a bad game. Despite this, it lead to the untimely, or possibly tim