2016 April - Kortrijk v Mouscron

It was no surprise that Andrew was most excited about the visit to Kortrijk, even though he had thoroughly enjoyed the Lens game the previous day and we had all once again been made to feel unbelievably welcome. The simple reason was down to language and the fact that the Kortrijk sang most of the songs in English including their version of You'll never walk alone." 
The day started with a run for Mark and I around the terrils 11/19 near Loos-en-Gohelle: a token contribution to our efforts to become fitter. Andrew walked along and we met him at the top of the largest of the two hills. The terrils (slag heaps in old English) never cease to amaze me, both in their size and number around the region: tributes to the endeavours of the region's miners. It was just over a month since the 110th anniversary of the Courrières mining disaster in which 1100 miners died underground, an event that some said saw the creation of a professional Racing Club de Lens:    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Courri%C3%A8res_mine_disaster
The number of terrils dotted around the region serve as a testimony to the importance mining to the region, in the same way mining and shipbuilding was to Newcastle. The fact that unemployment in the region is one of the highest in the country also highlights how the region has struggled to recover from its demise.
Arriving in Kortrijk, our taxi driver was already waiting patiently for us in the form of our friend Kim. Kim had also brought along his supply of Kortrijk shirts to add colour to the occasion. We were joined by his friend Fred who preferred the Next man-about-town look to the full-on footie fest apparel. Andrew, the man who doesn't wear football shirts, was delighted to be wearing his Kortrijk shirt as we toured the funfair that had descended on the town. Stopping at a bar, we were welcomed by what we thought was one of Kim's friends but once he had bought us all a drink it turned out Kim had never met him in his life. Our new friend insisted we choose a name for him so we said James (as in Bond) and he regaled us with tales of how he had come to Belgium from Haiti and found it hard, as a black Muslim to fit in at times. It seems to be my role in the group to entertain the odd-bods and so predictably as I tried not to appear ungrateful for our drinks, the others sidled off to one side and left me listening to his tales of being a talented but misunderstood artist. He then went on to talk about religion and it is was at this point that I began to become a bit nervous as he became more and more erratic and excited. It was like being trapped in a cage with tiger as it grew hungrier and hungrier. It was time to say our thanks and wish him well on his journey as we exited stage left, Andrew first. 

Next stop, the stadium, and Andrew's artistic flair appeared again as he demanded another 'band photo' against the 'Kortrijk emblem wall'. This time he took the role of the misunderstood Morrissey in the pre-break-up stage of The Smiths' career. Admittedly, he was a Morrissey wearing a footie shirt and a flowery shirt.
Watching the players warm-up, I was reminded of my previous experience of being hit by the ball at the ground and this time paid more attention to the pitch than to my phone. Sure enough a ball whizzed past us and into Andrew's delighted hands. It had made his day. 
The game itself fizzed along but the home side struggled to break down a resolute visiting defence. 
Even Andrew struggled to stay focussed and began piling plastic cups in peoples' hoods although it was Jeremie who appeared to enjoy it the most. He excelled at this footballing version of Jenga / Grandma's Footsteps. Oh, how grown up we are!
Andrew's next stop, once he'd got bored of the cup game, was to try to get the Kortrijk Ultras to sing one of the two songs he had penned for the occasions:
"Don't sell Van Loo, Anthony Van Loo....Cause you'll have a riot on your hands." to the tune of Billy Ray Cyrus' "Achy Breaky Heart"
"Kiš is on fire, your defence is terrified, Kiš is on fire, your defence is terrified..." to the tune of Gala's 90s hit "Free from Desire". 

Unfortunately for him Van Loo hadn't started a game that season and Tomislav Kis didn't look like he was going to add to the two goals he had scored so far in the season.
Nevertheless, he persevered and was delighted when a group of them joined in. Mission accomplished, he trotted back to us: wide grin on his face.
Despite a late rally from Kortrijk there was no opening goal and the scenes of jubilation from the visiting fans showed how much it meant to them to draw at the neighbour's ground.  The sight of one of the players jumping into the crowd added to their excitement, although it did seem a bit OTT for a goalless draw.

Relaxed post-match drinks

After the game there was no rush to leave the ground as the bar remained open to serve the remaining fans. It allowed us to get rid of all of the of drink tokens we had bought before the game. Kim also made sure that we had our photos taken with all the players as they walked past the bar. The welcoming atmosphere that surrounded the club kept us at the bar well after the final whistle. Eventually we left, saying goodbye to Jeremie in the process, and our evening moved on to a Karaoke bar on the edge of Kortrijk run by one of Kim's friends. After knocking out incredible versions of Pulp's Common People and the Pogues' Fairytale in New York (in our opinion) we bade farewell to our new Flemish friends. Not how we'd expected to finish our evening!

Karaoke time!