Professional football clubs plan their match preparations down to the last detail, especially for away fixtures which involve travelling and overnight accommodation.
But what happens when – having given the team the best environment to prepare themselves for the upcoming clash – the coach to take about 40 players and key staff to the stadium breaks down twice?
Against the odds
Colchester United must have feared the worst when they set off for their League Two match at league leaders Walsall last month.
They left Colchester on November 14 to make the 160-mile trip to the West Midlands – at the same time Storm Claudia hit the UK, bringing with it torrential rain and gale-force winds which caused millions of pounds worth of damage.
And before they had left the JobServe Community Stadium, the coach had a flat tyre and had to be swapped, with the delay disrupting their planned training session in the West Midlands.
Having endured a blustery journey north, The U’s bad luck continued the following day, when the replacement coach also suffered a puncture, further disrupting their pre-match preparations.
With kick-off approaching, the only option was to contact a local taxi firm to get the players to the Pallet-Track Bescot Stadium in time.
Change in fortunes
Despite the apparent run of bad luck in the build-up to the match, Colchester took the misfortune in their stride and ran out 2-0 winners. The result lifted them to 14th in the table at the time, and they are currently occupying the 11th spot.
Whether it was the taxi drivers that broke the jinx or the saying that bad luck comes in threes – two punctures and a major storm – things had certainly turned around for the U’s.
Head coach Danny Cowley told BBC Essex: “We’ve had enough going against us.
“We obviously travelled in pretty much a hurricane yesterday, so it hasn’t been an easy three points.”
The Colchester Gazette summed up the weekend’s events perfectly: “It’s hard enough at the best of times to go to the top-of-the-table side and win, but the events that preceded the U’s victory at the Pallet-Track Bescot Stadium made the three points even sweeter.
“Put simply, if anything could have gone wrong in the build-up to Colchester’s League Two clash with the Saddlers, it did.”
Getting the job done
While the debate about luck and omens continues, one thing for certain is that when the club called on a taxi company in a crisis, it delivered. It is no mean feat getting 40-odd people and equipment to a football ground at short notice and at the same time, but the operator got the job done.
It is delivering a reliable service that the taxi trade is known for, especially when people find themselves in difficulty. They’ve stepped in when travellers were stranded abroad after flights were cancelled, helped reunite a confused pensioner with their family, and just happened to be passing by when they saw an unconscious man in a burning car following a crash.
These are some of the examples where taxi drivers have made a huge difference to people’s lives. They spend their working lives in the communities they serve and not only recognise when something is wrong, but are quick to step in and offer help.
They certainly saved the day when Colchester United came calling. Perhaps the only people not appreciative of their organisation and prompt action were the Walsall fans.
