Well, at DoveVale B&B every guest is important but recently the Carling Cup stayed with us for a night.

Beryl was preparing breakfast for a guest, noticed his Carling identification badge and asked if he worked for the brewery. “No,” he said, “my job is to look after the Carling Cup when it travels round the country.”

Beryl looked puzzled so he pointed to a silver box in his room, lifted the lid and pulled out the Carling Cup, complete with its Carling ribbons. It seems that in the weeks prior to the Carling Cup Final the cup is taken (by our guest) to various breweries round the country. He had been to Tadcaster and Leeds on the day of his arrival with us, was going to Coors Brewery in Burton and then moving on to Cardiff and the South Coast. He also takes it to each of the televised Carling Cup matches.

Obviously photos were taken.

The story started with a call from our prospective guest (that is usual). What was unusual was the first question – “have you got Sky Sports.” Answer, “no”, but the Doveside Club has and they show football matches. It turned out he is a Spurs fan and they were playing that night. He phoned Doveside to confirm before coming back to us to book a room. He signed in and set off for the Doveside Club, for which he was full of praise for the hospitality he received. Of course, as a Spurs fan he received some ribbing from the Hatton locals, one of whom reminded him of a Carling Cup tie at Grimsby which saw Spurs unceremoniously beaten. He had his own recollection of that occasion.

“I was at that match on the touchline with the Carling Cup. What I remember, apart from Spurs being beaten by a team from a lower division, was that to my left were three people in wheelchairs. At the end of the match the Grimsby fans were so ecstatic there was a pitch invasion. When I looked to my left two of the wheelchairs were empty.”

So, not only is the Carling Cup an exciting competition it also has miraculous powers of healing. For us it was our most unusual guest.