A special day...

[AndyPyrah]

Guys and girls - Nice to meet you all.

Tomorrow is a rather special day for my father, I've sponsored tomorrows match in the name of my company, http://www.WhatTheBookiesSay.com, but really I've arranged it as a belated Christmas present for my father Wally Pyrah. My family is originally from the area, my grandad played for Morecambe and my dad lived in Morecambe for a little while before moving down south many moons ago...

If you're interested in a little nostalgia then check out my fathers ramblings about what tomorrow means to him by visiting http://www.WhatTheBookiesSay.com and going to the latest Pyrah & Son blog titled '1st Christmas Present in 5 years'...

And if you like a punt then there are a handful of videos in the football section from various bookmakers offering their opinion on Morecambe's chances tomorrow and what bets they suggest...

We're all looking forward to coming up tomorrow - Hope it's a good game and personally I hope the Shrimps stuff Darlington as I've backed 'em to win 4-0 or 4-1!

Thanks guys.

Pyrah Jnr.

[darrenlock]

Darlington are a team getting better results and were unlucky vs Lincoin drawing 1-1 and not as rubbish now , Darlington probably end up going down but they going to fight hard i think it will be.

Morecambe 3 - 1 Darlington

Attendace 1600 depending on how many loyal darlington fans come

[Heysham_Shrimp]

Welcome aboard and hope you enjoy your day.

We need as many sponsors as possible so if you enjoy it as I am sure you will , maybe your next sponsorship will be at The Globe Arena.

[Burnley Shrimp]

Haven't read the blog yet but will later. Wally Pyrah Bookmakers definitely rings a bell from the past. I presume they have now been taken over by one of the bigger bookmaking concerns. Did they have pitches at race courses?

Anyway thanks for taking the time to post and thank you for the sponsorship. I'm sure we all hope you have a cracking day. It will no doubt bring back some nostalgia if it's a few years since you last visited Christie Park. Can't see your correct score wagers paying off due to Darlo improving recently but it should still be a Morecambe win!

If you enjoy it make sure you do it again next season in the opulence of the brand new Globe Arena!

[darrenlock]

Good company i wont bet with you . i prefer Paddypower listening to paddy on talksport lol

[Burnley Shrimp]

Just read the blog! Excellent read! Now I know for definite you will have a great time stopping at the York The Midland is plush but you'll have a better time in the York Hotel.

The landlord as you may be aware is a Shrimps fan and was an exile for many years before returning to the town a few years ago so I'm sure his missus and him will look after you.

It's nice to read that after all these years away you are still Shrimps at heart and you made the two really massive games in our recent past, both at Wembley. We're unbeaten there don't you know!

[bigreddog]

hope you and your dad have a brillaint day. I hope there are lots of our players putting in a good enough performance to be man of the match contenders.

[marky No.1]

Guys and girls - Nice to meet you all.

Tomorrow is a rather special day for my father, I've sponsored tomorrows match in the name of my company, http://www.WhatTheBookiesSay.com, but really I've arranged it as a belated Christmas present for my father Wally Pyrah. My family is originally from the area, my grandad played for Morecambe and my dad lived in Morecambe for a little while before moving down south many moons ago...

If you're interested in a little nostalgia then check out my fathers ramblings about what tomorrow means to him by visiting http://www.WhatTheBookiesSay.com and going to the latest Pyrah & Son blog titled '1st Christmas Present in 5 years'...

And if you like a punt then there are a handful of videos in the football section from various bookmakers offering their opinion on Morecambe's chances tomorrow and what bets they suggest...

We're all looking forward to coming up tomorrow - Hope it's a good game and personally I hope the Shrimps stuff Darlington as I've backed 'em to win 4-0 or 4-1!

Thanks guys.

Pyrah Jnr.

Nice one. I hope you enjoy your day (and night) and the Shrimps claim 3 points.

Noticed this on the bookies site as well ...

http://www.whatthebookiessay.com/What-T ... ive-on-tv/

[AndyPyrah]

I know for sure we'll have a good time at the York Hotel, and if the owner's a shrimps fan then the banter'll be great.

The Pyrah family never had pitches at any courses but back in the day my grandad was, how should I say...'an illegal corner shop bookie'...that's how we came to end up living in London, it's a funny story.


'Burnley shrimp' if you do recognise the name it might be because you've seen him on Sky or heard him on the radio etc, he does it a little since he used to be the PR guy for Coral bookmakers and Sporting Index.

I'd like to think that we'll be supporting Morecambe alot more in the future...

[Burnley Shrimp]

Cheers Andy,

I'm sure the likes of Rod Taylor (Chief executive at Morecambe and life long fan) and some of the other directors will love to chat with your dad about the old times. Whether they remember quite that far back when your dad played is debatable but they'll love it none the less. The York Hotel is THE football pub/hotel in the area. You'll see when you visit the back lounge.

[AndyPyrah]

So this is it. The long awaited Big’un! Not any of tomorrow’s FA Cup matches, not the reappearance of Denman with Tony McCoy aboard at Newbury, not who will win the Six Nations match between France and Ireland but wait for it... Morecambe v Darlington, League Two, 3.00pm kick-off.

Why? Because this is going back in time, reliving a childhood dream, secretly being a ‘Shrimps’ supporter - even if I tell the world I am a Manchester United fan. It’s like Doctor Who, going back in a time capsule... and I am going to be there at Christie Park, it can’t get any better than this!

Imagine the delight when receiving my Christmas present from Pyrah Jnr, first one in five years, that he's gone and sponsored the match through WhatTheBookiesSay.com and I am the guest of honor. This is too much! Lunch in the Sponsors lounge, pre-match photo’s, drinks, and then presenting the Man of the Match award.

Why is this so special? Well, my million-dollar Father played for Morecambe before the second world war – seemingly he was a bit of a celebrity around that area. He played for numerous teams in his career and was big pals with an England and Arsenal legend called Alex James (well before my time – but some may have heard of him). Last time I went to Christie Park to watch Morecambe play, and was then never to return, was when the Shrimps played Preston North End in either a friendly or Charity match. Wait for it…England legend Tom Finney was just coming to the end of his career but playing!! Now that’s got to be around 35 to 40 years ago and I have never been back. Why? Like everything in life, time moves on, live down South, more important things to think about – yet Morecambe is always in the back of the mind. I watched them play down South in an FA Cup Trophy match against Dartford, when they were promoted into the league against Exeter at Wembley and even a League Two match against Brentford, not much, but the hearts in the right place!

Now the hard part! How do you get 10 friends, family or colleagues to head up to Morecambe on a cold February Saturday afternoon... especially as it’s even Valentines weekend! Having managed to rustle up waif’s and strays to commit to the journey up from Euston the next dilemma was where to stay! Not the famous Midland Hotel – fully booked, damn Valentines Day. We’ve ended up at the York Hotel Lancaster Road, sounds good, but large groans all round from the travellers – especially when I tell them there is a ‘Gangster Evening’ in the hotel after the match.

Note to self: must bring pin striped suits, fedora’s and spats – shoes to the uninitiated.

There is even more bad news for one of my unlucky companions - they'll have to leave their room and go down a corridor to either wash or go to the loo! (My friend Bill says it reminds him of being back at college, sorry Eton, and sharing beds etc!)

So who’s going to win? Having a weekly slot on BBC Radio Teesside for the past 18 months, I know more about Middlesbro', Hartlepool and especially Darlington than most people.

The Quakers sit five points adrift at the bottom of the table having won only four matches all season. There are however signs of a belated revival, despite being offered at 1-10 to go out of the football league. They have twice beaten promotion hopefuls Rotherham in the last month, and were unlucky not to pick up maximum points against Lincoln in mid week.

Morecambe on the other hand, are out of form. Following an unbeaten sequence of nine games which saw them just outside the play-off’s, they have lost four and drawn one of their last half dozen games - they badly need a win.

Having beaten Darlington 4-0 in January the bookies offer them odds-on at 8-13, Darlington 11-2 and the stalemate 11-4. Certainly no value there, but just maybe Morecambe striker Phil Jevons, on loan from Huddesfield, could prove a bet. Having scored 14 goals already this season and four of those as the first goalscorer, Jevons looks the pick of the bets to find the back of the net first.

BlueSq.com have kindly offered me a £50 free bet to celebrate my home coming – so it’s a 50 on Jevons at 9-2. Let’s hope he obliges – I will need it for the Gangster Evening drink-up in the York Hotel!!!

[shrimper]

Having beaten Darlington 4-0 in January the bookies offer them odds-on at 8-13, Darlington 11-2 and the stalemate 11-4. Certainly no value there, but just maybe Morecambe striker Phil Jevons, on loan from Huddesfield, could prove a bet. Having scored 14 goals already this season and four of those as the first goalscorer, Jevons looks the pick of the bets to find the back of the net first.

BlueSq.com have kindly offered me a £50 free bet to celebrate my home coming – so it’s a 50 on Jevons at 9-2. Let’s hope he obliges – I will need it for the Gangster Evening drink-up in the York Hotel!!!

I tried to start a 'one Wally Pyrah, there's only one Wally Pyrah!' chant when that first one went in.... Nice one!!

(What's going to win the National?)