Firstly, happy International Women’s Day to everyone, especially those future Lionesses amongst you. As I always told my daughter, Bethany, and will continue to tell my grand-daughter, Emilia, “be big, be brave”.

Just as importantly, be you.

*** There now follows an important announcement from GrumpPa ahead of this blog post.***

In these months before Euro25 kicks-off on July 2^nd, some of the DadLadTour blog posts may have had a tenuous connection to either Switzerland or The Lionesses. “Tenuous” may even be stretching the bounds of credulity a tad too far. Earlier mentions of maps, flags and hoodies may have already tested your patience to the limit,

For that I offer an apology; but only a teeny-tiny one.

Why’s that?

Well, it is because I am very excited about the trip that #SonInLawNo1 and I will be making this summer. It is an adventure of a type that neither of us have undertaken previously. The whole experience of following our national team abroad is entirely new for us. And neither of us have ever been to Switzerland. Heck, Liam and I have not holidayed together without Bethany (my daughter, Liam’s wife) or Sarah (my wife, his Ma-In-Law) before. It will all be new. New country, new places, new people, new teams to watch. It also promises to be exciting. That is why I keep referring to our Euro25 trip as an adventure.

And that’s why I have been writing nonsense about things that just about connect to Euro25 and/or The Lionesses. Sheer unadulterated excitement. I’m like a child in a toy shop.

So, thanks for reading The DadLadTour blog so far; I hope that the half-dozen or so of you who have visited these pages will continue to do so. I promise that it will get sooooo much better once the tournament begins and there is something to actually tell you about!

***Thank you. We now return to our normal scheduling.***

Just like the men’s game, matches in the WSL (Women’s Super League) seem to have developed very flexible scheduling. Fixtures and kick-offs are often only lightly pencilled into the diary before dates and times are confirmed at a later point. I assume that issues such as television broadcast rights and clashes with the men’s games are part of what come into consideration.

And I fully understand these concerns. Getting the women’s games onto TV screens and, therefore, in front of as wide an audience as possible will only help to grow interest in the game and, hopefully, encourage more folk to follow their chosen teams. Likewise, if the women play at the same time as their male club sides, then this could dilute the audience and fanbase. I suspect the WSL hierarchy have a tough balancing act to undertake when deciding on kick-off times.

The more fans the women’s game can attract, then the more young girls will be encouraged to play. Consequently, the pool of players available to clubs, and to England, will become larger. This young talent will have the opportunity to become more, well, talented. Improving the game even further. Making the club sides and national teams stronger and even more visible and attractive to future generations. That would be a win-win.

Sharing my enthusiasm for the women’s game is one of the reasons I write these blogs. A few people might be intrigued enough to delve deeper into women’s football. One or two may become fans. A future Lioness might ask for her first pair of boots after being inspired by words written by someone like myself. Heck! I am in danger of sounding like a zealot!

Anyway, who knows.

My team, Manchester United Women, have recently played home games, on subsequent Sunday’s, which began at 12.00 and 12.30. Neither game was on the BBC or SKY. (Though, I think they were were shown on BBC iPlayer.) But why the half hour difference in kick-off times from one week to the next? I don’t know. And today’s FA Cup quarter-final tie against Sunderland kicks-off at 17.15. It is all very confusing for the fans.

But….those noon-ish Sunday starts do allow time to grab a bite to eat before the match!

After our hour’s drive to Leigh, we pop into The Thomas Burke, in Leigh, for breakfast and a few cups of coffee before heading on to Leigh Sports Village (LSV). The Burke (Burke’s? The Thomas? TB’s?) is a J.D. Wetherspoon pub. Nothing fancy about it, all perfectly pleasant and nice. It’s a ’Spoon’s so you know what to expect from them. Reasonable food, cheap beer, smelly toilets.

A pre-match visit to a ’Spoon’s seems to have become somewhat of a football tradition over the past decade or so. The menu is quite varied plus you get free refills of hot drinks. It’s better value than a pie and a drink in most stadiums I’ve been to. What is there to not like? Judging by the number of United shirts on display – home, away, third choice, all from different seasons – each time we visit The Burke (there, I’ve decided), we are not the only MUWFC fans fuelling up before making our way to LSV every Sunday. 

Anyway…and this is where the Switzerland component comes into this particular blog post

 Last Sunday at The Burke, while waiting for our meals to arrive (fry-up with black pudding for me, exotic breakfasts including guacamole and salsa for Bethany and Liam – those crazy youngsters!) Liam mentioned a review he had seen for the hotel he’s booked for our stay in Geneva.

Don’t forget that I had earlier afforded Liam the title Official Purveyor of Tickets and the Organiser of Travel Planning for our Euro25 adventure. I have placed a great deal of faith on his young shoulders. I trust he will not disappoint me.

To date I have steadfastly refused to ask about or investigate the accommodation he has booked. Our trip will be somewhat of a “shoestring budget” affair and I know that Liam has done his best to organise hotels that are not too shabby given what our purse strings will allow. When initially searching for hotels he did mention that one suggestion was located above a sex club. Thankfully he ruled that one out quite swiftly. I mean, can you imagine the noise while trying to get to sleep?

Liam is confident he has managed to secure reasonable accommodation for us. Safe, secure, clean. And, fingers crossed, not in the types of establishments that charge out rooms by the hour.

So I was interested in what he was about to read for the Hôtel Astoria Genève. The review, from six months earlier, was by a chap called Federico.

“I have been once and booked for the second time.” Federico’s review began in highly promising fashion. 

Excellent! Federico has stayed there previously and was sufficiently impressed to rebook. Well done, Liam.

The review continued. “The room is very small and old. With a smelly carpet.”

Hmmm. This next bit is less impressive. Still, we are only staying two nights, a small room is not a problem. After all, we’ll hardly be in the room won’t we? All we need is a place to rest our weary heads before the next day’s football filled fun starts.

Smelly carpet? Not ideal. But no doubt the windows can be opened. You can crack most hotel windows even just a little bit. At least enough to allow a small breeze in.

“Anyway the position is very convenient.”

Haha! Back on track. We don’t have much time during our visit so a handy location is ideal. This will save us time on our travels, especially as the hotel is close to the station for our return trip to the airport.

“The service is horrible. Level of courtesy and understanding is unacceptable. I won’t go there anymore.”

Oh, dear! It all seems to have fallen apart for Federico during his stay at the Hôtel Astoria. I wonder what went wrong to alter his opinion. Maybe he asked for the carpet to be shampooed? Or, perhaps he received a rude reply when requesting the room be re-carpeted?

Until this morning, when I asked Liam to send me that review so I could write a few lines about it, I didn’t even know the name of the hotel. After following Liam’s link and reading a few other reviews, the Astoria doesn’t actually come off too badly (*GrumpPa prays*). Some favourable points are made, while other guests are less than favourable on some matters.

Seeing how we cannot afford hotels with the quality of service, amenities and, no doubt, superior floor coverings, such as Zürich’s Dolder Grand – where our goddesses, The Lionesses, will be catching their ZZZZ’s (see #08. “Let’s Spend The Night Together…”) – the Astoria will have to suffice for mere mortals such as Liam and I.

For us, the Hôtel Astoria could be heaven or it could be hell.

I guess we will find out for ourselves if Federico was right or wrong about it. I’ll let you know in July.