The Crewe Crew

A very late one for me tonight - I've just got back from Crewe to see the Blades lose once more on their build-up to the League 1 play-offs. Nothing like a bit of momentum!

Mrs H's father works in the control room at Crewe and invited me a couple of months back to watch the match from there. I was quite excited about this; as a fan I have been to a ton of matches, but this was the first time I got see something behind the scenes. OK, not as glamorous as an insight into the dressing rooms perhaps, but incredibly fascinating. The use of technology to monitor fans and ensure their health and safety was impressive, and the people in there worked seemingly effortlessly as they went through their routines, keeping a watch on everything and keeping on top of it all. A joy to watch as an outsider. I quietly watched as various events took place including a reported broken toilet seat, a loose sign from fans banging on it, a mildly troublesome teenager (a Crewe one I hasten to add), an impending pie shortage at half time and a bat catching moths attracted by the floodlights. As you can tell, the fans didn't cause any real trouble.

It was one of those things that goes unseen by the thousands there, but it's such an essential part of ensuring the sporting showcase can take place. Well, unseen except for the three Blades fans that pressed their faces to the mirrored glass on their way out to gesticulate and laugh at me (for what I have no idea!!).