
Eastleigh super-fan and prominent ECB Southern Premier League umpire Dave Wright chalked up his 1,626th Spitfires game at Gateshead in midweek – spending 16 hours with 12 other supporters on a mini-bus travelling some 690 miles there and back !
The fans left the Silverlake Stadium at 10.50 on Tuesday morning and didn’t arrive back until 05.50 on Wednesday.
So, no fanciful overnight hotel stays for die hard Dave, who lives in Harestock on the outskirts of Winchester and has supported Eastleigh since the late Seventies.
In fact, it really was a 24-hour day of dedication for Wright, who has visited all 92 Football League stadiums and is busily ticking off the boxes of all the National League grounds too.
Here’s how Dave Wright’s Gateshead day panned out -
• 5.30am – started work
• 9.30am – left work after a four-hour shift
• 10.50am – left Eastleigh on the supporters’ mini-bus
• Pit stops at Towcester and twice more on the M1
• 6.50pm - arrived Gateshead International Stadium after an eight-hour trip
• 7.45pm – Match kicks off
• 8.04pm – Gateshead 1 Eastleigh 0
• 8.08pm – Gatehead 2 Eastleigh 0
• 8.30pm – half-time coffee and a meat pie, with mushy peas
• 9.20pm – Gateshead 2 Eastleigh 1 : Josh Payne gives Wright and his pals fresh hope
• 9.35pm – Final whistle. It’s now ten matches without a Spitfires win
• 9.50pm – clamber back on the mini-bus, with no time for a post-match pint
• 1.30am – a solitary 20-minute M1 service station pit stop for a coffee
• 5.50am – arrive back at Eastleigh FC after another eight-hour ride
• 6.15am – Dave’s back at work and does a five-hour shift before finishing at 11am.
“It was a pretty exhausting day, one for the proper fan,” Dave smiled.
A horse racing fanatic, Dave was a handy spin bowler for Flamingo in his playing days. His next big ‘away day’ is Halifax Town on April 19 … a Tuesday night, of course !
The fans left the Silverlake Stadium at 10.50 on Tuesday morning and didn’t arrive back until 05.50 on Wednesday.
So, no fanciful overnight hotel stays for die hard Dave, who lives in Harestock on the outskirts of Winchester and has supported Eastleigh since the late Seventies.
In fact, it really was a 24-hour day of dedication for Wright, who has visited all 92 Football League stadiums and is busily ticking off the boxes of all the National League grounds too.
Here’s how Dave Wright’s Gateshead day panned out -
• 5.30am – started work
• 9.30am – left work after a four-hour shift
• 10.50am – left Eastleigh on the supporters’ mini-bus
• Pit stops at Towcester and twice more on the M1
• 6.50pm - arrived Gateshead International Stadium after an eight-hour trip
• 7.45pm – Match kicks off
• 8.04pm – Gateshead 1 Eastleigh 0
• 8.08pm – Gatehead 2 Eastleigh 0
• 8.30pm – half-time coffee and a meat pie, with mushy peas
• 9.20pm – Gateshead 2 Eastleigh 1 : Josh Payne gives Wright and his pals fresh hope
• 9.35pm – Final whistle. It’s now ten matches without a Spitfires win
• 9.50pm – clamber back on the mini-bus, with no time for a post-match pint
• 1.30am – a solitary 20-minute M1 service station pit stop for a coffee
• 5.50am – arrive back at Eastleigh FC after another eight-hour ride
• 6.15am – Dave’s back at work and does a five-hour shift before finishing at 11am.
“It was a pretty exhausting day, one for the proper fan,” Dave smiled.
A horse racing fanatic, Dave was a handy spin bowler for Flamingo in his playing days. His next big ‘away day’ is Halifax Town on April 19 … a Tuesday night, of course !