Long-haul Paul’s Paris mission impossible

Dec 14 2007 by Our Correspondent, Liverpool Daily Post

SCOUSERS can be as fanatical about the oval ball as they are over the round one. After all Rugby Union has been going longer and if you don’t believe me ask anyone who celebrated Liverpool St Helens’ 150 years of the game at the Adelphi recently.

There was certainly one ex-player, Geoff Gadd who had enjoyed his earlier days in the game at St Michaels, who thought it was vital to fly across the Atlantic to share with more than 300 people in the celebrations.

Another former Merseyside player Paul Williams couldn’t make it.

Not surprising really when you hear his story in the aftermath of the Rugby World Cup. He just couldn’t bear the thought of another long haul like his recent exploit to Paris for the England- Springbok final.

Many of the Merseyside's sporting fraternity will remember him. Now in his 40s he played cricket for Sefton Cricket Club and captained Middlesbrough at rugby. In fact his dad, Ted Williams, is still in the thick of cricket activities as chairman of the Liverpool Competition.

Paul is now back home in Sydney, where he has a career in the construction industry.

Such is his fanaticism for the game he learned at Liverpool College that he spent no time responding to a call from one of his old mates on the Monday prior to the World Cup final telling him he had a ticket for the match.

In no time Paul had an aircraft booked to get him to Paris, departing Thursday and back to Sydney the following Tuesday. But on the day before he was due to fly news came through that there was no ticket for the game, after all.

“It was like going to hell and back during the next few days,” Paul explained. “As I was trying to cancel my air ticket, my mate again contacted me with the news that there was now a ticket for the final but I had to pick it up in London. What should I do?

“One solution was to change my flight to Heathrow and pick up the ticket before setting off on Eurostar to Paris. Things could only get better. On the Thursday I arrived at Sydney airport and queued for several hours only to be told I needed to show my air ticket, which I didn’t have.

“Off to the Qantas desk I sprinted, only to find my ticket routed me to Kuala Lumpur and not London. It took three different managers to resolve my problem.

“At Kuala Lumpur I had to check out and then pick up my ticket there and check back in. I eventually landed to find I had a five-hour wait and not just three.

“On Friday I landed at Heathrow. I jumped into a cab aiming for Knightsbridge and the ticket agency.

“The meter said $75 – that hurt a little but I handed over the cash. The driver was not happy. I had given him Aussie dollars. So I gave him all my sterling realising the trip had cost me $200. Everything was going pear-shaped. Inside the ticket agency I was told my ticket was in Paris!”

Paul arrived at the Gare du Nord in one piece to face a taxi queue 200 metres long – the French metro workers were on strike.

Not to be defeated now, he managed to jump on a train to the airport only to receive the news from his friend that the hotel had been changed and he needed to get to the other side of the city. Subsequent text messages and a return to the Gare du Nord was called for and Paul finally met up with his friend and got to the hotel – only to find they had given his room away because he was late turning up after he had spent three-and-a-half hours crossing Paris visiting five stations on two trains.

However, his friend had a twin bedded room and was able to come to the rescue.

The next day was World Cup Final day – surely Paul’s luck as an England supporter was going to change.

Sadly it didn’t and the fourth official’s decision on Mark Cueto’s try added a final twist in the tale for the travel-weary Merseysider.