Flying away from home on the Friday before Brighton took on West Ham at the London Stadium was not a decision made lightly.
But she who needs to be obeyed desperately wanted to see the Christmas markets in Budapest. Neither of us are getting any younger and so that sealed it; we were off for a festive jolly.
It is not the first time I have found myself trying to keep up with the Albion from foreign lands. At the start of 2024, we joined The Seagulls Down Under for a month whilst visiting Australia and New Zealand whilst I toured my books Seagulls Best Ever Season Volume I and Volume II.
We were then on our annual trip to Madeira in September. Johnny Cantor and Warren Aspinall passed the test of broadcasting loud and clear over the BBC Radio Sussex airwaves on both those holidays.
How would they sound in the Hungarian capital, I wondered as were cruised through a sunny sky at 35,000 feet? Next stop, Budapest.
Kick off for me was at 4pm CET, right in the middle of our walk around one of the markets. They were heavily guarded by armoured cars and concrete blocks because of the tragedy in Germany the previous day.
I popped an earbud into my right ear, enabling me to know what was happening at West Ham at the same time as being able to listen to my wife.
Proceedings at the London Stadium got underway after a wonderful tribute to a young Hammers Under 15s academy player, Oscar Fairs, who sadly passed away recently aged. It is such a sad loss.
Bart Verbruggen made a good early save from Jarrod Bowen and Kaoru Mitoma forced Lukasz Fabianski into a stop at the other end.
There was a moment when Joao Pedro appeared to be pulled down in the box. Referee Robert Jones ignored it, like he always does.
This led to a break from Bowen, whose short fortunately rolled just past the post. The Albion and Fabian Hurzeler in particular were fuming.
The score remained 0-0 going into half time, when I suddenly lost the sound of BBC Radio Sussex. I fiddled with my phone before realising I had lost the earbud from my right ear. Help!
I told the wife and her sympathetic reaction was to tell me that I was not buying another pair! Instead, I conducted a desperate search.
There were hundreds of people walking backwards and forwards through the market. The situation seemed hopeless; it must have been kicked into touch by one of the many other people going about their business without worrying what was happening between West Ham and Brighton.
Whilst I panicked, my wife remained calm. She walked 25 yards back the way we came and spotted the earbud against the base of a stall.
Somehow, it was in perfect condition. A giant ogre could have easily crushed it in the crowd. Phew, I thought, before popping it back in and being reunited with Johnny and Warren.
The finding of the lost earbud had to be a good sign for the second half. The Albion were surely guaranteed victory now to end the winless December run. Not quite…
Brighton did manage to take the lead. A great cross from the left floated in by Pervis Estupinan saw Lewis Dunk challenge Fabianski.
The ball fell for Mats Wieffer, who calmly placed it into the back of the net. A first of many goals we hope for Wieffer in an Albion shirt.
There was barely time to celebrate before West Ham equalised. Jan Paul van Hecke’s headed clearance was intercepted by Tomas Soucek.
He put Bowen away, whose shot was parried by Verbruggen straight to Mohammed Kudus. Estupinan was there but could not stop Kudus heading the rebound straight in for the equaliser.
Brighton pushed for a winner. Fabianski denied Yasin Ayari and Yankubu Minteh hit the far post with the ball not quite rolling over the line.
Evan Ferguson, Julio Enciso, Ayari and Tariq Lamptey with a very brave header all went close. But it was not to be and the Albion had to settle for a point. Even from 1,700 miles away, it felt like two dropped.
Van Hecke ended the afternoon battered, bruised and bandaged after a kick in the head. The Dutch defender was not the only person to be injured; my dear wife also fell over not once, not twice, but three times whilst in Budapest. And would you believe having only been on the tonic water?!
For the second of the three falls, we visited casualty at a local hospital. Sit down before you read this next bit. She was checked in, assessed by a doctor and underwent an X-ray.
A fantastic Hungarian doctor then said she was all good except for bruising. There were no broken bones. And no broken wallet either.
The cost was just £17, the equivalent of three-and-a-half Big Macs in Budapest. The whole process took under 45 minutes. Why can’t we do that here in the United Kingdom?
We now have our fingers crossed for a slightly less dramatic next holiday. We are off to cruise the Barents Sea, northern Norway later in January whilst aboard the Hurtigruten ‘MS Kong Harald’.
Temperatures will be as low as -10°C up there. Hopefully, Johnny and Warren will be bringing news of goals and wins for the Albion to warm us up, rather than the winless run stretching towards February.
Happy 2025 to you all.
Tony Noble @Noble1844Tony
