Rainbows & Rubles: From the East Stand to East Europe

Editor’s Note: This blog post was written prior to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and should be treated as a fair anecdote of David’s experiences in Russia.

My recent trip to Russia for the World Cup was every bit as good as I hoped it would be. My interest in football and in the country of Russia both go back to the sixties, when I was a child, when the Cold War was at its height and when LBJ was President of the United States (what is the relevance of him to this blog, you may ask, well just look up to see during his Presidency which was the last country to win the World Cup and which was the last club to win the FA Cup).

I am the fourth generation of West Bromwich Albion fans in our family, my nephew is the fifth. My grandfather took me to my first match in 1970 and took me regularly thereafter, just two years after that famous FA Cup triumph. My great grandfather was 13 when the club was formed in 1878 and started watching and supporting the club from very early in its existence, so my family do truly go back all the way, we have enjoyed all the highs and suffered all the lows of supporting Albion throughout its history - but I do feel as if my grandfather and great grandfather had a better of time of it than I have had...

Alongside my passion for football, and for Albion in particular, I have always had a passion for history and geography, these were my favourite subjects at school - wanting to know about what went before us and wanting to know more about the planet. I will always remember the globe at my school and seeing that the biggest land mass by far was covered red - then of course the USSR - What is this country I asked - it is a very bad country I was told , but the teachers who knew so much about many other countries did not seem to know much about this one - so I took it upon myself to find out more - and over a life time I have discovered the country. The USSR  ( minus the other 14 republics) reverted to being Russia again in 1992 after the break up of the USSR. I can tell you from nearly three decades of experience that Russia has, putting all politics aside - the deepest, most generous, most hospitable and beautiful people one could meet.

I trained as Chartered Accountant, safe, solid but not terribly fans exciting in the 1980's, was looking for a bit more adventure in my life at the same time Mikhail Gorbachev was beginning to open up the USSR - major western investors were beginning to look at investment opportunities - and they needed accountants...  it was the chance in a lifetime for a Russophile like me and I took it…

November 1990, a day I remember as vividly as my first visit to the Hawthorns. My first visit to Moscow, which was of course then still the capital of the USSR. I remember the excitement as the BA flight took off, even more when it landed and when I discovered my hotel was walking distance from Red Square I was thrilled - the moment when I first stepped onto a Red Square lightly covered with snow was one of the moments of my life.

Staying in the hotel was another different experience, there were not many westerners there at all in those days and we were allocated to the Intourist hotel, basic in facilities but rich in charm... on my floor a lady sitting in a desk offered me tea and made an entry in a note book whenever I entered and left my room.  In the middle of my first night, I was rung up by a young lady and asked if I was lonely, no was the answer, just wanting to sleep was the polite answer I tried to give in my pigeon Russian which I had just started to learn. This became a fairly repetitive occurrence with different ladies until one time I was asked if I would prefer a young man... how did they know, I wondered, I was always so discreet - and fairly macho, but neither temptation nor curiosity got the better of me, at that time I was trying to develop my career and discretion was always better than valour.

It was not only in Russia, but also back in the UK, at work and certainly whenever I was at the Hawthorns, that I was at discrete. I guess I have always been aware that I am attracted to men, but there was a lot of stigma against Gay people ( or Queers as we were then known) when I was growing up, so it took mequite  a while to accept the label. One or two boys were teased without mercy at school for possibly being "Queer" although I do not know if they were or not, and the only role models for being Gay were some rather effeminate TV stars - this could not be me, I thought .... I remember being very much in love with another boy as a teenager at school, and desperately needing someone to talk to about it, I went to see one of the school chaplains, it is a just phase I am going through, I was told, and I would get through it, but I must not do anything about it and I must keep it secret to protect myself.

But I did not "get through it", I just learned to live with it. I accepted I was Gay, made some gay friends, had some encounters, but I completely separated it from the rest of my life - my work, my watching football, everything else. My life became compartmentalised, and this is still how I live my life. I am very private, I am still distinctly uncomfortable acknowledging my sexuality. Being a Committee Member of Proud Baggies has become one of the biggest challenges of my life, as it has forced me to be more public about who I am. I represent Proud Baggies at the Albion Assembly and this meant I had to come out to Albion fans many of whom I have known for years without of course ever telling then anything about me - I have to say everybody without exception has been great and the only discomfort is in my own mind. At the Proud Baggies AGM, it was announced that our web-site gets up to 1,000 hits a month... great for Proud Baggies - but I found myself thinking " oh no, that's a 1,000 people a month finding out that I am Gay."

Back to Russia, and after regularly visiting in the early nineties I moved there permanently in 1993, I got myself a local apartment and lived and worked there..... one of the best moments in my life was finding out on the World Service news that Albion had won the play off final against Port Vale......  my career was an important priority at this time and I worked every hour I could - these were exciting times in Russia, the country was at the time in love with all things western, there were many investors all requiring my expertise, the country had a young government with a mission to privatise the economy - encouraged by institutions like the World Bank and the IMF. In retrospect, it was all too rushed, and it did not work out well for Russia, but that is another story......

In this period, away from home, I felt liberated, and when I was not working, I was out partying. Everybody knows that Russia is not a nice place to be LGBT today, but actually in the 1990's it seemed very different -  most Russian people at the time were probably totally ignorant of the whole concept of homosexuality, but this allowed for a short while a vibrant - admittedly hidden - but largely left alone sub culture to develop, and by fortune I found it for myself. At the time I was a young, attractive ( am I allowed to say this?),  rich ( in local terms) westerner  - in other words, in massive demand... and I went into clubs and bars  and was surrounded by lovely men all wanting my attention... which I was not averse to giving.

My time (that stint) in Russia came to an end, and  I returned to the UK, to the days of Alan Buckley at the Hawthorns...  the football was not great, and to be honest my life didn't seem to be either. To give myself more adventure, I bought a Gay bar - I had a friend who was supposed to run it while I still worked full time, but it did not work out, I lost a lot of money and I reverted to being the safe David.

I was headhunted by a global oil and gas company to work on one of their large offshore oil and gas projects. This was based in Sakhalin,  7 time zones away from Moscow and 9 hours flying time, I lived in an expat compound we were treated very well, the work was challenging, fascinating and hard and I just focussed on that. I would regularly fly to Moscow for business meetings, but I chose to give no time to my private life, other than avidly following what was happening at the Hawthorns - and that was beginning to go well, it was during this period that Albion won promotion to the Premier League for the first time...  and how happy was I that day.

My employers moved me to the Far East, and after a few years there I went back to Russia back in the advisory business. I was living in Moscow again for the first time in over 10 years, and how it had changed.  As many nice restaurants as anywhere in the world, and yes dining out is another love of mine.  But sadly, attitudes had started to harden, against the west and against LGBT people, and the two were often linked which is part of the problem. The international financial crisis came, the work dried up and I was back home. I have been immensely saddened that in time since I left Russia, the conditions and safety for LGBT people there have worsened.

But Russia is more than its regime, I believe its people are inherently warm and hospitable and I remain a Russophile - at the same time as deeply regretting and deploring the discrimination and hostility towards LGBT people and others. I have many good friends in Russia and I go back regularly to see them, and I was delighted to be invited by a very good friend of mine to visit Kazan for the World Cup.

Kazan is the capital of Tatarstan, and getting there involves another hours flight from Moscow. As I got to the domestic terminal, I was surrounded by many Polish and Colombian fans who were playing in Kazan that night. The atmosphere was great, everybody was excited and friendly... and I could see from when I first arrived how pleased the Russians were to be hosting the World Cup, every Russian at the airport was friendly and courteous as if they were personally hosting all their foreign guests.

I was met at Kazan airport by my friend, and after dropping off my bags at the hotel, which was full of Colombians and Poles, I went to a bar to see England win 6-1 against Panama, the local Russians there again very friendly and I was congratulated on England's win. Another bar to see Colombia v Poland - and the week was basically socialising, eating, drinking and watching football in various bars and Fan Zones, with two matches at the Kazan stadium - Germany v South Korea and then the last 16 match between France and Argentina....

It was a wonderful experience being at the Stadium to watch World Cup matches. The atmosphere was great and fans of different countries mixed well. In the Germany v South Korea match, I was an interesting observer of the emotions the German fans went through  before, during and after the match - emotions I could totally and absolutely relate to - excitement and expectation before the match and in the early stages, frustration and increasing anxiety as the Germans just could not score the goal they desperately needed, complete and utter shock as late on it was South Korea and not Germany who scored the all important first goal and then, finally, on the final whistle, as defeat and elimination was confirmed, disappointment, dejection and depression.... but don't feel too sorry for  them, in my lifetime, they have won 3 world cups ( the first one of the 4 they have won was before I was born),  3 European Championships and have appeared in countless finals and semis........

The Argentina v France match was quite frankly one of the highest quality football matches I have ever seen. The passion and noise of the Argentinian fans is quite something to experience live, and they stayed with their team when 1-0 down and then again, after they took a 2-1 lead, when they were 4-2 down..... but France were brilliant, and one always knew they were going to win the match, and I felt after this match the tournamen toot..... Mbappe is quite something, he made one goal, scored two and Argentina could not live with him - and there was a distinct sense, as he completely overshadowed Messi, of a footballing crown being transferred from one head to another.....

On my journey back, I reflected on how well Russia have done with this World Cup and how glad I was as a football fan and a Russophile to be there for some of it. I just hope that Russia will change for the better from the experience of hosting the World Cup. Back to see the latter stages of a thrilling World Cup on U.K. TV, back to experience the hope and belief as England progressed to the semi - final before the disappointment of that match v Croatia. And now it is all over, thoughts and focus return to all  things Albion....