Exiled Gull Phil Lee gives us his view on the trials and tribulations of following United from afar.....

Road Trip

In all the years that Mastermind has been shown on television has any contestant ever sat in that black leather chair and proudly announced that their specialised subject was "The motorway network of Great Britain"? If there has, then surely they must have been a travelling football fan!

Anyone that follows their team around England (with the occasional trip to Wales) will be well versed with motorway services, which 'A' roads leads to where and will be able to recite, verbatim, the quickest routes to grounds including those all-important parking spots unknown to anyone else. The travelling fan is a walking talking Sat Nav, minus the annoying voice.

For this exiled Gull, it is no different. For fans based in Torbay, the A38 and M5 must seem like very familiar territory indeed. Likewise, the M62 'corridor' linking Bradford to Humberside in the East and Liverpool in the West, represents the starting point for many of my away trips.

April 1^st provided me with another opportunity to reacquaint myself with that 107 mile-long stretch of tarmac and, in particular, the 40 miles that will take me from Shipley, near Bradford, into the heart of Lancashire.

This route represents a well worn path as a number of lower league sides are situated within easy reach of 'The 62'. Regular trips to Rochdale, Bury, Stockport and more occasionally, Oldham and Macclesfield have seen Yorkshire Gulls pass this way. Indeed, with 14 Football League clubs being situated close to the motorway at some point or other, the volume of football traffic is always sure to be heavy on any match day.

This is a familiar journey but an unfamiliar destination. Not for us, a visit to Spotland, Gigg Lane or Edgeley Park. This is the brave new world of Conference football. Get out the map books because tonight my journey ends four miles east of Manchester, in Droylsden.

In days of old, weary travellers and their horses would stop and rest at designated coaching inns along the highway, warding off the affects of thirst and hunger brought on by the journey. The names, the architecture and the modes of transport may have changed but the principle remains the same. Welcome to the world of the motorway services. Little hubs of activity scattered across the countryside filled with thousands of people with thousands of different reasons for being somewhere.

Historically, service stations and football have enjoyed an uneasy relationship. The over-riding perception, fuelled largely by non-football fans and the media, is that they represent a series of potential flashpoints each 26 miles apart on all the major motorways. But, of course, this is rarely the case. I remember well, passing a cuppa break with a Doncaster fan as I returned from Barnet on that day in 2001. He was on his way home after watching Rovers complete their league programme by losing 1-2 at home to Telford. We chatted and compared the merits of supporting two of football's smaller names and agreed that the 'big boys' could keep their fancy sandwiches and even fancier admission prices. We cheerily parted company, wishing each well for the following season.

Let's not be naive. We all know that the problems that blighted the game in the 70's and 80's are still lurking out there. Fortunately, my unhappy memories of services areas are confined to the prices of pre-packed sandwiches and dodging the recovery service salesmen who loiter by the main entrance waiting to sign you up the moment you make eye contact with them.

But, I digress. Back to April 1^st and the M62. Summer time (if not the summer weather) was upon us and, for the first time since early autumn, we are able to set off for an evening fixture in daylight. Myself and two other Shipley Gulls (my son and daughter who, I'm delighted to say, have also taken The Gulls to their hearts) ploughed through the commuter traffic heading East to West, past the sombre Saddleworth Moor and onto Manchester's very own M25 look-a-like, the M60.

Thankfully, an uneventful trip which was a great relief as two weeks earlier the celebratory mood of the FA Trophy semi-final win at York had been (slightly) tarnished by a breakdown on the way back. What must surely have been the world's slowest recovery truck got us back to Shipley in time to see the final part of that evening's Match of the Day! No such problems on this April Fools Day. Within forty minutes we were in down-town Droylsden.

Droylsden developed as a mill town and enjoyed prosperity thanks to the cotton industry. Until now the town had been most notable for producing the world's first machine woven towel and being the venue for the first British Speedway meeting 1927. But now Droylsden FC are raising their town's profile as they compete in the Blue Square Premier for the first time.

The Butchers Arms ground, which nestles behind the pub from which it takes its name, would definitely be classed as one of the smallest visited by The Gulls this season. However, a new covered standing area behind one end which housed The Gulls fans and a small but well-appointed stand to our right gave the impression that the ground improvements came under the tag of "work in progress".

Don't let the capacity fool you, it's grounds like this where the heart and soul of football still beats passionately. This season has not unfolded as tonight's hosts would have liked. Their triumphant success last year when they won the Conference North title by five points from Kettering (this year's champions) has not been translated into a healthy league position this term. Still, you get the feeling that this is a club on the up.

Once again, Torquay were taking on that unfamiliar mantle that we seem to have worn several times this season - the role of 'giant'. We were the 'big boys' for the next ninety minutes - there to be toppled!

Even before the remains of the daylight had faded away, United caught both the home defence and my son napping. As the teams prepared themselves for kick off, Lee Jnr spotted that the queue at the tea bar had gone down drastically. Seizing his opportunity, he run round, loaded up with goodies (including a tea for his old man! - well done son!) and raced back, all in less than 90 seconds, by which time Tim Sills had put us in front!

It was an open encounter from the start with Droylsden coming straight back us. Although it was their sixth game in thirteen days but it didn't show early on and three minutes in, The Bloods came close to levelling when Lee Mansell cleared a header from underneath United's cross bar. As Torquay continued to press forward with Roscoe and 'Beds' tormenting the home side, my son succumbed to the call of nature. "Won't be a minute" he announces as he disappears just before the half hour mark in the game! Sure enough, no sooner had he disappeared than Roscoe's header hits the net. Amazing! The news that he had managed to miss another goal didn't go down too well but, I'm proud to say, he's already got a few years worth of away trips under his belt and he knows that seeing 'the boys' 2-0 up with just half an hour played was something to savour ... even though he may not have seen either goal.

Needless to say he stayed rooted to the spot for the remainder of the match but he was unable to celebrate a third goal. The second half was a scrappier affair. The Gulls had two good penalty shouts ignored and didn't get the luck they needed in several goal mouth scrambles. The home side scored 20 minutes from the end to set up a nervy finish but we hung on to mark our first ever visit here with a win, halt our 'hosts' best run of the seasonand claim our 5^th (at the time) 'double' of the campaign.

So it finished 2-1 and, with Aldershot not playing, the gap at the top of the table had closed ever so slightly. Football fans are born optimists. As we made our way back to the car we all discussed the endless permutations and series of unlikely results that would see us overhaul Aldershot in the space of four weeks and claim the title. Alas it wasn't to be. After 46 league games and 9 months of hard slog and it will be down to three games of cup football.

A great way to get promoted and a terrible way to miss out but, for the victorious travelling fans, the evening of Sunday May 18^th will be a journey home not to be forgotten!.