My main knowledge/experience is of the away match Beer Bus culture. I lived away from Sheffield from 1981 to 1993. But for the main part of the nineties, the noughties and the 2010s I traveled on Shred's bus to away matches. During that time, I was aware of Shred's bus, The Sportsman bus & The Railway bus - and in the more recent period, the Handsworth Blades bus. I'm sure there were others, but those were the ones I was aware of. There were variants - but the model was - the bus leaves town in time to get to a town/village for 11am opening, an 11am until 2pm swill, grab a pint outside the ground if possible, on the bus straight after, get some miles under your belt, then a beer stop at a much used place, for eg when travelling North on the M1 it would be Shepshed, South Normanton or Ripley, a few hours there, then on the bus back to Sheffield in time for the last Sheffield Bus back to where you lived. We live in a post-fact world. But the facts are - that'd look like 6 pints on the first stop, a pint outside the ground & 6 pints at the stop on the way home, hopefully back in Sheffield for one or two before closing. That was just the culture those buses had/have. You didn't have to drink a lot - but you'd be bored witless for hours waiting around for everyone else if you didn't. And you'd probably be better off in your car, on the train or on another non-beer bus. The little round I was in had some unwritten rules - first stop - pint in one pub, drink up, move to the next one, stop on the way home - plot up in one single pub, drink standing at the bar, never sit down & never ever have something to eat. Goodison brought many a Blade up through the ranks. He used to do block bookings on the trains (Goodison's Guerrillas (or Gorillas if you preferred). He ruled the roost up the front of Shred's bus for those nineties & noughties I talk about. He was a major part of that beer bus drinking culture I was aware of.
Once he hit some health problems, and then Shred hit his own, with an untimely end, those absolutely insane drinking levels were at an end for me. To my knowledge, some of the beer bus culture still exists - the flame still burns. I've chucked my lot in with The Sportsman. It's a simpler, more accessible model. Straight home after the game. Maybe a couple of hours somewhere on the way to the game. Venue selected with Real Ale in mind & usually a Wetherspoons for those that way inclined. I was an Ale Cart - just shoveled it in. I rationalise my current situation as Quality over Quantity. Although that is as pompous as hell. It's really Variety over Quantity. I'll do a lot to search out microbreweries, real ale pubs, craft beer cafes to get to new, different beers. The "benefits" include I often have to stretch my legs & walk around a bit to get to different places and I've started attending a lot more games - notably friendlies, U23 & U18 - in order to get me to places where I can combine a bit of SUFC football with a bit of "oohh, I'd really like to visit that brewery" beer hunting. Downside - I love my 7+% IPAs.
Anyway - that's what I think
Phil
Beer, football & cricket Blog
www.ball-sup.blogspot.co.uk
