Went to the Leeds vs Forest game a couple of weekends ago. Not counting this year's pre-season friendlies against York and Burnley, it was actually the first Leeds away game I'd every been to. Sad, I know. But I have excuses.

Given Forest's fellow fallen giant state, they've got a stadium with a capacity not much below Leeds, which probably helped as they can thus hold a decent number of away fans - not that they do often one suspects; I got a seat in row Z which had obviously not felt buttock in a while.

I was badly misled by their official site, which hinted there was a large car park next to the ground. This turns out to be true, but they fail to mention it was closed. I ended up parking in town and taking a cab from the train station to the ground - or at least the other side of the River Trent from the ground, as the traffic was bad. I wandered over the bridge, picked up a programme and went round to the away entrance (next to the closed car park, natch) to enter.

Fun fact: the away section is under a balcony containing home fans. This allows for more than the usual questioning of parentage or footballing ability I suspect. I think a few fans spent more time looking sideways than at the game.

Which was nevertheless awesome. Leeds took the lead after a mere 17 mins - scoring at the other end - before sitting back until Forest equalised just after half-time (which again meant it was at the other end). Finally, as they flagged in the final minutes, Beckford knocked in a little beauty in front of us. Then I had a 15-minute walk back to the car in the midst of a few thousand none-too-gruntled Forest fans.

I was working the following Saturday, so had to follow the Luton game on the radio. A reasonable 1-0 win by all accounts.

I also expected to be working the next Saturday too, but I ended up with support from home on Sunday. So I quickly arranged for a ticket for the Hartlepool game at Elland Road. After taking six hours to get up on the Friday before the Southend game instead of the projected four, I decided to go part-way Friday night and booked a hotel at the Newport Pagnell services.

Saturday then, I arrived way before the game and even after a drink in Billy's Bar and a trip around the shop, I still had three hours to kill before the game. I ended up reading the Subtle Knife for a bit before heading into the ground, where I discovered my seat was in direct sunlight. It was also a bit muggy, so it was that or go back inside and swelter there. I took my chances outside, with the hope of the odd breeze until, just before kick-off, the sun finally went behind the roof.

The game was not up to previous standards, and was not helped by poor refereeing (particularly his time-keeping) - but Leeds still won. The first goal was up the other end again, so I didn't see much; but the second - a sublime chip over the keeper - was right in front of me.

I had applied for a ticket for this Friday's game at Bristol - but didn't get one