(Taken from First Down, May 1999)

GERMAN FANS TO CHEDDAR RESCUE

THE Cheddarheads were still partying in Frankfurt to cheer their beloved Claymores to victory at the Waidstadion last Saturday, despite suffering double personal misery in Germany this week. Last week in Dusseldorf, lain 'Preston' Carey and Steve 'Shuggie' Bedwell, had a bag containing a video camera donated by NFL Films, Shuggie's camera, their passports and flight tickets stolen from the Knoten bar in Dusseldorf the night before the Claymores were demolished 37-6 by the Rhein Fire two weeks ago.

They had already planned to stay in Germany for the week and travel to Frankfurt for the Galaxy game seven days later. But on the Tuesday, things got worse as their car was broken into by thieves who stole the bags of fellow fan Leslie Murray.

Far from being downhearted, Preston and Shuggie were still lapping up the atmosphere in Germany and were full of praise for the Fire fans who helped them get back on their feet after the incidents.

"The Fire fans got us a new video camera on Saturday morning so it wasn't so bad," said Preston. "And then we got our big Scottish asses kicked so hard at the game.

"By that stage we were flying," he added. "When you get the Altbeer down you, results don't really matter.

"Throughout the whole week we were here the Fire fans felt .so guilty about what happened even though it wasn't their fault. They'd have shown us a good time anyway, but this time it was extra special.

"We went to Aachen, we went to Cologne and they wouldn't let us pay for anything. It's things like that that make the league so special. You go out on a limb, show your commitment and they'll repay you five times over."

"The Fire fans were so embarrassed they were saying to us don't come back for the World Bowl," said Shuggie. "Of course we're coming back for the World Bowl, it's not the Fire fans' fault."

And the Fire fans again came to the rescue when their car got broken into last Tuesday. "We were driving back from Aachen to go to the Fire talk evening, when the players, come down and have an evening with the fans, and, at the request of our friend who had driven us back, we parked in the safest, most expensive multi-storey car park in Dusseldorf," said Preston.

"It never even crossed our minds that something would go wrong," added Shuggie. "We only went back to the car because none of the Fire players turned up and we were going to do a Cheddar Talk instead.

"We went back to get the cheddars, put them on, get back on stage and talk to the fans. We went back and found the window had been smashed and Leslie's bags were gone.

Thankfully, everything has since been sorted out and the Cheddarheads now have emergency passports from the British Consulate in Frankfurt and replacement flight tickets waiting for them at the airport.

"If we'd have been on our own, we'd have had a lot of problems," said Preston. "But all the German guys, they made it easy for us and it wasn't a problem at all in the end."

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