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Arthur Whittle

Club Cabbage.....Tell Us Your Story...

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I used to travel with them regularly and enjoyed it.  Perhaps some less tolerant folk hardly ever use public transport either, they''re used to travelling around in their own personal little bubble so it comes as a bit of a culture shock I suppose.  Mixing with people who aren''t exactly like you, we can''t have that can we? [:O]  Inevitably there were one or two who were a bit cliquey but they were a small minority in my experience.  You get it everywhere, it''s just human nature I''m afraid. 

Quite a number of funny experiences like driving round and round identical roundabouts in Milton Keynes looking for the right one, we nicknamed the driver ''Satnav'' and it stuck.  And I don''t know what it is about the trip to Coventry - one year I was on a coach that broke down near Barton Mills, we waited for another one then that broke down as well on the A14 and we got there just after half time.  The ''I''ve been to every game in the last 2000 years'' brigade were wetting themselves in case we didn''t get there at all, a couple started to hitch hike but with no success and we caught them up later.  Roger Munby phoned us at regular intervals to see if we were alright, decent of him I thought, and we got a free coach trip to another game. 

Then there was the time coming back from a Carling Cup game at Blackpool, in the early hours on the A14 we were stopped by a herd of cows on the carriageway and we spent the next hour watching the local Plod trying to round them up!

Going to Stoke once (it was the game where Hucks got a red card) we were slowing down at the roundabout near the ground when some little toerag with a catapult put one of our windows out, it was all we could do to stop the back seat crew from piling off the bus there and then and going after them.  They sent out another coach during the game which met us at a service station near Birmingham but it was a chilly few miles until we got there!

One shameful occasion was on the way to Southampton, we were stuck in a queue on the M25 when a little girl in a car in the next lane leaned out of the window and threw up, while some idiots on our coach cheered and hammered on the windows.  The steward just ignored it.

Worst trip ever was to Sheffield Wednesday but that was because of the attitude of the local police.  We were about an hour early so they made us wait in a layby on the M62 then escorted us in and we were marched off the coaches straight into the ground, same procedure in reverse after the game.  I guess they''ve been a bit overzealous since Hillsborough but it was ridiculously over the top and spoiled the day.

 

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Have only been going on club cabbage this season due to not wanting to put so many miles on the cars clock. Its alright, as a previous poster said it gets you there.

First time this season was Carlisle away and we ended up being on the assisted access coach which I thought was going to terrify the hell out of me but it was ok, and we won!

Actually go on that coach everytime now, even though we don''t need to because its a good crowd, even though they are very trying sometimes. The continual use of body spray when someone farts at the back I could do without though. I know what people mean when they say about the reserving seats things. Have to come from just outside Newmarket, so left at 6.30 yesterday and still almost had trouble getting a seat! We could ask them to pick us up on the way, but it seems too much hassle....

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[quote user="Wings of a sparrow"]

I went to Leicester in the 80''s on Club Cabbage - nothing interesting to report apart from saw a fox running in the fields approaching (Leicester appropriately)

My memory may be failing me but I''m sure there were British rail specials to the FA Cup matches at Derby and West Brom many years ago and I''m pretty sure the carriages ended up in a state of disrepair. West Brom trip for the last and only time I had cold lamb sandwiches. I can still feel the coagulating fat on the roof of my mouth when I think about it.

[/quote]They were trains chatered from BR by club cabbage.They ran several trains like that in the early days.The trains used to end up largely in darkness on the return journeys,as often the light bulbs used to be hurled out of the windows whilst passing through stations as I recall!I seem to remember sections of seating going the same way!

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Great post Cherub. I use Cabbage when I go away and will be on it for the Tranmere and Orient games. There''s some great people amongst the regulars, folk I have known for years who go to every match regardless of the current form of the team. The regulars always seem to get a hard time when the numbers increase because the team are doing well and I think that''s a little unfair. I don''t think they are anti the fairweather fans, but they just get to know eachother on the long trips to Plymouth and the like and look forward to sitting with people they know.

Cabbage is a great way to travel if none of your mates fancy going. You can still go and be amongst friends!For the regular away fans I think the main thing that puts people off Cabbage is the price and the expensive stops at motorway services. Three or four in a car probably works out a fair bit cheaper and you can stop where you want. And of course many of our away fans come from all over Norfolk and beyond so it''s not really practical to add a journey to and from Carrow Road to the miles they have to travel anyway.

I was on that bus that was hit by the disabled bus coming out of Stoke. We then had to wait for another bus to collect us and take us off the motorway and then another one to take us to Corley services where we had to wait for yet another to bring us home!

How many of you know the real reason for the "Cabbage" nickname[:^)] I''m sure it''s Cherub who posted it on here before.

 

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[quote user="Graham Humphrey"]We had seven or eight coaches go today.  Usually it''s a bit less than that but I suspect we''ll have big away followings for the rest of the season so seven or eight may be the norm now.
[/quote]

 

Do people think the coach is expensive, Â£23 to Swindon which is a 400 mile round trip from Norwich. Just thinking of my car costs, its diesel so does 52 - 54 to the gallon, so fuel for that journey would be £45, 4 of you in the car thats £12 each to include car parking. Plus you get there quicker, can stop when you like and get home quicker.

Have used the cabbage coaches myself in the past but was just wondering what people thought to their charges?

 

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It is a bit pricey I know. For this season anyway whilst the ticket prices are a tiny bit cheaper, and the results are going our way away from home, its nice to travel with a bunch of other fans. As the dsignated map/ AA auto route reader in our car, its nice to have a break swell! League One grounds don''t tend to be aswell signposted as Championship grounds, so for the sake of saving an argument between my mum and I, its worth it!

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I''ve only ever used club cabbage coaches four times.....which was four times, too many....

Car or choo, choo.

Free to do your own thing....

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[quote user="nutty nigel"]

How many of you know the real reason for the "Cabbage" nickname[:^)] I''m sure it''s Cherub who posted it on here before.

 

[/quote]The name ''Club Cabbage'' was first quoted in one of the fanzines back in about the early nineties I think,in reference to one of the regulars who used to (and maybe still does?),smell of the said vegetable,and also to the ahem,''nature'' of some of the other travellers!

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Often the cheapest way to get away games!

I''m not the greatest lover of coaches and often on the Cabbage some of the regulars can be a bit odd and look down on non regulars, but I don''t agree with all the cabbage bashing that goes on!

For some people its often the only option and while the train would be quicker and better it is also a lot more expensive, the same as driving unless you get a load in a car!

This bashing was only started years ago by gangs of young males who fancy themselves a bit or others who are too snobby to get on a glorified bus!

I''ve always held the atitude that if I want to go to an away game I''ll get there whatever way possible which if it means the Cabbage then so be it!

Our away followings would be much lower without the Cabbage!

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A regular traveller on NCFC ''club cabbage'' reads the match-day programme during half-time at Huddersfield yesterday.

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I remember the footex special( or train) too Tottenham in the FA cup 1984 i think???? run by club cabbage ...... to northumberland park station.I remember walking down the high street with a police escort to white hart lane....was a bit unerving as there was some un savoury charactors watching us as we passed.Anways game ended in a 0-0 and we won the reply at home.The only i time i ever went by coach was to Notts forest last game of the season 1983 2-2 if i remember right.............never again ......but fondly rememberd ;)

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Very rarely use the coaches unless it suits to do so. By this I mean a cheap fare or this year Millwall as it was easier and safer than parking the car in some dodgy side street. Millwall this year was enough to put me off for the rest of the season. About to get on the coach when i was trampled by an old woman desparately tryingto get on her "regular coach" and get her normal seat. Most ignorant and rude woman I haveever met.

To be fair to many who use it though it is generally cheap unless there is a car full of you. Train can be cheaper if you vbook eary enough. We are doing weekend in Swindon and train is £36 which is mor ethan club cabbage but still a hell of a lot more fun. No alcohol restriction or lack of leg room and hopefully no moaning old women.

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Regularly used to travel on coach a few years ago just because it was often easier than driving.  Have a few memorable moments to add to the list:Barnsley with the special £5 travel in the game that started the whole sneak into the playoffs run.  About 50 coaches made the journey in a procession. Somewhere on the A17 with roadworks the workmen scribbled Barnsley 5 Norwich 0 in huge letters on the floor for us all to see.  Once arriving at Barnsley all the coaches parked in the car park (grass field) adjacent to the ground, looked impressive so some fans were trying to take photos, some almost got run over by other coaches arriving and not exactly giving them much chance to get out of the way.Play off final in Cardiff - queueing for ages outside carrow road almost being choked to death from all the exhaust fumes as all the coaches lined up with everyone desperately trying to force their way on to one!  On the way back the coach driver was too nice and was insistant on making everyone a cup of tea before we set off back to Norfolk.  He then took a tea order off 2 people, went off made it and brought it back before asking the next 2 and so on, must have been at least an hour before we even left Cardiff.  Same coach driver then decided we needed to stop for an hour at a service station where nothing was open at 1am in the morning.  That was the point I decided never again!More recently used the club cabbage on a midweek cup trip to Newcastle as it would be easier than one of us driving back late at night.  On the way back from Newcastle the A1 was closed due to road cleaning!! The coaches ended up doing a massive detour, (not convinced we followed the diversion signs) we were even on the M62 at one point! Then again on the A47 there was another detour and we had to go via Watton to the A11 and back to Norfolk.  Eventually arrived back at Carrow Road just after 6am in time to buy a paper to read about the game we had just got back from!

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Used it frequently in the 90''s, as being under the legal driving age it was the only affordable way of getting to games. However, went to Charlton and Man City (cup) 2 seasons ago and that has put me off for life. The look i got when I sat near the back! I''d have rather walked into a Millwall boozer with a Hammers shirt on!!! [;)]Can anyone remember a trip to Grimsby in the league (finished 2-2, Akinbyi equalised int he 93 minute!) where we had 3 coaches, and two of them crashed into each other meaning they got to the game 30 odd minutes late? Fortunately, I was on the bus that didn''t crash.Also, remember leaving Liverpool in ''94 after the last game of the Kop. The sunroof pulled back all the way, so you could climb onto the bus roof. Some poor bloke with a convertible, sunglasses, leather jacket and the lady to go with it pulled up beside the bus, and some of us climbed through the skylight and filled his car with paper, bottles and unwanted sandwiches. Poor bloke. Bit embarrassed by that now [:$] Stewards and police escort did nothing!!!

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Used it a few times over the past couple of years and got a couple of stories...When we went to Stoke (2-1 defeat), the gearbox broke and we had to drive back in 5th gearWent to Layer Road (1-1 draw) and got bricked by some Ipswich fans on the way out. The outside layer on one of the windows held out until we reached County Hall before it shattered.Nowhere near as fun as some of them on here though...

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My one and only Club Cabbage trip was to Arnhem. I''ve done my best since then to eradicate the journey from my memory. And the game.

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People ask you to move from "their" seats?  Seriously?  Anybody going to own up to being so pathetic and small-world minded?

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[quote user="nutty nigel"]

Great post Cherub. I use Cabbage when I go away and will be on it for the Tranmere and Orient games. There''s some great people amongst the regulars, folk I have known for years who go to every match regardless of the current form of the team. The regulars always seem to get a hard time when the numbers increase because the team are doing well and I think that''s a little unfair. I don''t think they are anti the fairweather fans, but they just get to know eachother on the long trips to Plymouth and the like and look forward to sitting with people they know.

Cabbage is a great way to travel if none of your mates fancy going. You can still go and be amongst friends!For the regular away fans I think the main thing that puts people off Cabbage is the price and the expensive stops at motorway services. Three or four in a car probably works out a fair bit cheaper and you can stop where you want. And of course many of our away fans come from all over Norfolk and beyond so it''s not really practical to add a journey to and from Carrow Road to the miles they have to travel anyway.

I was on that bus that was hit by the disabled bus coming out of Stoke. We then had to wait for another bus to collect us and take us off the motorway and then another one to take us to Corley services where we had to wait for yet another to bring us home!

How many of you know the real reason for the "Cabbage" nickname[:^)] I''m sure it''s Cherub who posted it on here before.

[/quote]

Where is your seat located?

[;)]

OTBC

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Cabbage is just boring, going in the car with mates means you have alcohol, can stop whenever you like, radio, make as much noise/be quiet. I look forward to the journey as much as i do the matches when we have a car full. The coaches are boring, full of wierdo''s, and it seems to take absolutely forever.

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I think the term "cabbage " comes from a tongue in cheek reference about the people who use it being vegetables and window lickers. I must admit there are a fair few who can reinforce such stereotypes!

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Sheffield Wednesday a couple of seasons ago. The coach we were on was struggling not long after leaving Carrow Road. Somehow managed to make it to Hillsborough. Crushing defeat followed and the dreaded journey home. The coach finally gave up in the middle of a busy roundabout half way back so most of the coach had to get off and push the coach into the nearby services (which were closed) singing Y''Army.Fortunately a coach behind us pulled up and me and my daughter managed to jump on so only had to wait there 5 minuts. no idea how long the other poor lot had to wait. Not used it again since.

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[quote user="Norwichcitynut"]Sheffield Wednesday a couple of seasons ago. The coach we were on was struggling not long after leaving Carrow Road. Somehow managed to make it to Hillsborough. Crushing defeat followed and the dreaded journey home. The coach finally gave up in the middle of a busy roundabout half way back so most of the coach had to get off and push the coach into the nearby services (which were closed) singing Y''Army.
Fortunately a coach behind us pulled up and me and my daughter managed to jump on so only had to wait there 5 minuts. no idea how long the other poor lot had to wait.
Not used it again since.
[/quote]

I have travelled on cabbage many times in the past especially in the early eighties, went to the Brighton cup game in 83 on the special train which wasn''t too bad. Have also been to a few on the coach and there are far to many train spotter types on there for my liking, the worst part for me is when they stop at the services because it then becomes obvious why it is known as club cabbage as everyone gets off the coach. Incidentally there used to be a guy on there who always has his radio up to his ear who seemed to be on every trip I went on, he started talking to me once and I couldn''t get away from him. Think his name may have been Simon, is he still around?

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Now whatever are you doing on this thread Bly? I guess like threads about the games and player performances, formations, substitutions or even matchday pies you are just a window licker only on the outside looking in[:P] My seat is usually located on Bus 3 when I can go, which at the moment is about 10/12 games a season because I can rarely make Saturday away games.

As for having seats reserved, well I think that''s confused with regulars travelling with the people they normally travel with. Just because they go every game do they lose the right to travel with their mates? I wonder how the fairweather fans would like being told they couldn''t sit with their mates.

I have met loads of good people on cabbage. I''ve never had a problem with the regulars how ever often I have been able to go. It can''t be that bad because lots of younger fans seem to get on with us oldies ok.

kdncfc, I reckon you''re talking about Simon Roy! Anyone who has regularly travelled on cabbage will have come across him at some point. I remember him when I was just a kid waiting outside Carrow Road for autographs and he always had his radio to his ear even then! He is the son of Dr Roy who used to be headmaster at Hewett School many years ago. Simon is one of the real eccentric characters who follow our club. And you''re right, he is difficult to get away from when he talks to you. (Just ask Gazzathegreat!!) But Simon never forgets a name. If you tell him your name just once he will always remember it. My favourite "Simon Story" is when I ran into him at halftime during the Play Off Final. I said something like "Do you think we will win Simon?" But Simon spent the next 5 minutes explaining to me that "Eddie, if the roof hadn''t been closed the sun would have been in someone''s eyes and spoiled the game for them" [H][:S]

I heard Simon had been unwell and I haven''t seen him this season. I hope he''s ok.

 

 

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[quote user="claud"]My one and only Club Cabbage trip was to Arnhem. I''ve done my best since then to eradicate the journey from my memory. And the game.
[/quote]

The one and only time that virtually the entire Norwich away following was stoned out of its head.  Well done Holland!

 

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" Now whatever are you doing on this thread Bly? "

I think he travels by troll ey bus

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Could any of the fortunate few confirm if the rumours around Duelling Banjos being the only form of piped music allowed on the buses are in fact true?

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Never travelled on Cabbage but have regularly passed the coaches en route. All credit to those who travel with them, the base of our fantastic away support.

I much prefer a car with my Bury chums. We name our away days as flight FAT1 for obvious reasons if you saw us. Well actually I am perfectly formed and all muscle.

Really sorry to hear about Simon. I have spoken to him on a few occasions at away games over the years.

It was interesting to learn of his background because despite some problems he is an intelligent man.

If you read this board Simon we all hope to see you again mighty soon.

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A Phil Keenan mini bus is the only way to travel to a game, plenty of beer, good company and he never gets lost.

Another one running to Swindon on Saturday, one spare seat left. Get on board

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