Welcome to PLAYERS

My experience of Players started as I suspect many people’s did, with the anticipation of the show months in the making. I was going to miss Edition 38, so Players seemed to be the milestone for me, and having it announced that we as a collective F6 were going to be handing out a trophy, had us all slightly more excited than the average Joe Volkswagen. But even with us being told way in advance, with plenty of time to get a trophy produced, it wasn’t until the final week before the show that we settled on a idea, and James had it sorted (thank fuck) at the very last moment.

But anyway, It was the night before that a few of us met, in light of some good food, a beer and a movie, James Ford had come down from his home town, and I arrived 40minutes in to a crescendo of exhaust modifications, Paul blowing the dust of a certain set of very special wheels, and modifying callipers to suit.

Once done, we proceeded through Southampton back to Ryans, causing quite a stir, just outside a local pub, with Ryan’s Flat shifting, and if you’ve ever followed Ryan when he flat shifts, you’ll know exactly what I mean. Once, at Ry’s, Matty finally turned up from Dorset, and the indecision of food came. Movies happened, beer happened, and then sleep, glorious sleep. I was lucky enough to share the couch with Paul, with James and Matty's sleeping on the nice hard floor.

6am is when the alarm went off, and we had it pegged in our flamboyant minds that we were going to meet some more of F6, and a few friends at Hedge End. I think we got there around 20 past 7, where Phil was waiting with his Civic, and a few of the local lads had joined too. It was then a quick breakfast, cooked by Ronald McDonald himself, a fuel stop, and then the blast up the Motorway, to meet (little to my knowledge) some of the DKM guys, and then James and the now infamous Feast aka Andrew Walker.

I was trundling along at relative speed, in front of most, bar James in his Mk3, and Ryan in the Mk4 as the collective had got caught in traffic, and Myself followed by the rest of the group were trying to catch up, I was in the fast lane at this point, and all of a sudden, as I past the Services, I suddenly saw the Sinister Mk3, pulled of, slowly making its way down the slip road, like a unholy grim reaper, picking of another victim. Which sadly, would be the last I saw James, until the show. The rest of the group pulled in to the services to meet the DKM kids, apart from Paul, who thankfully (knowing my crap sense of direction) came up behind me, and we pulled off at the next Junction to discus what the hell to do. A few phone calls later, we were back on the road, in the slow lane, amongst all the trucks and coaches, awaiting to hear that swarm of exhaust note’s come bellowing up being us. We waited, and we waited, 10miles went, then 20.. I was starting to think they were doing the direct route, and had forgotten about James and Feasty, who had now been waiting at Clackett lane, in the RX7, for nearly an hour, I don’t even want to begin to imagine the conversation that would have been sparked up in that vehicle. But then it happened, I could here Ryan, coming down the Fast lane, and then I saw this swarm filling my rear view mirror.

Paul pulled up beside me, and gave the biggest look of relief I had seen that day. We got back to a good constant speed, and the miles kept dropping, we saw a few mk2’s pull off and go the direct route, and we carried on towards James and Feast. Finally getting to Clackett lane, there they were sat, slumped in their brides, reading. Most took this break to unload any biological waste, and chat shit, then another fuel stop, which involved us blocking off part of the services, and a few angry white van men mixed in for good measure.

It was then, our final leg, through the Dartmouth tunnels, but with no Photography car, (James’s Mk3 taking it easy due to too much oil in his sump, accompanied by Matty in the Touran) no pictures were taken. We paid our toll, and headed through the tunnels, and my god.. I wanted to open up the Subaru a bit, but having Phil behind me, and Ryan in front of me, it was impossible to hear anything but those too, Im glad in a way though, because it sounded incredible, Ry flat shifting, and popping flames, and Phil's straight through, harassing my senses, with the orange lights of the tunnels, rolling off their paint work, it’s not something you forget in a hurry.

And so we arrived at the show, 2 hours later then we should, I picked up James who was waiting the gate for us, and was already parked up ‘Where to? - PVW stand please’ We drove through a sea of Volkswagens and Volkswagen enthusiasts, in a long F6 train, being directed by James, I slowly made my way towards the hangers, searching out the PVW banner. Once set in my sights, it was pretty clear it was going to be a nightmare to park up, I pretty much left the Subaru completely in the way, and let everyone else park up. Once everyone found their place, I pulled in next to Ry, and began to take in the scale of the show.

For a Sunday show, it was quite simply massive, with people, and cars as far as the eye can see, music in all directions, the smell of burgers and fries wafting through the breeze and filling you nostrils, mixed with smells, of grease, oil, petrol, rubber, brand new leather, and a million different kinds of detailer, but of course my friends, this is a fucking VW show after all.

We caught up with Chris, Latham, Sam and no-longer-Grounded Alex, who had all travelled down from Cov and Brum (where F6 originated) Then found Doey, and his Mrs, sat in his Mk4. We went to explore, with the intentions of searching out what we felt was the best car of the show. And boy was it hard. The rules were 1) It had to be a unanimous vote, if even one of us disagreed, it was out. 2) It had to be something that hadn’t been noticed to much that day 3) It had to have stance. 4) The owner had to fucking deserve the thing.

We spent a good two hours discussing and walking around with wide eyes, comparing wheels, paint, lows, and everything that came with each car. Boy was it difficult. As the day went on, and we settled in to the atmosphere, a few beers were drunk, and plenty of food was eaten, a crowd started together over at the mouth of one of the hangers just of to the side of where we were positioned. It was none other then the strongest man competition, that went down very well, and was extremely interesting to watch. However looking at the material we were up against its safe to say none of us went for the title. Then after the crowd had dispersed, they were pulled back again, for the awards.

With rumours flying around, that Myself and James, had succeeded in bagging a price (both of us being Japanese cars) we gathered as close to the ’stage’ as we could. As the award got ticked off one by one, with some incredible cars getting prizes my personal favourite being the mk3, that underneath it all was a type 3 floor pan, body chopped, with a beetle running gear, built by the type 3 detectives, thee guys pretty much sweeped the floor clean, and was good to see, especially as they’re aircooled guys, and not very well known in the water cooled scene.

So it was true, some how I managed to bag an award, followed by James, which I was honestly proud of, due to the fact that James's RX, is one of the main reasons why i ended up buying the Subaru.

Then it came for the special awards, and Ryan bagged best car, from Redline magazine, which was extremely well received.

And Then it was our turn. And I was more then proud to have Feasty present the award. I'll pretty much let the picture do the talking

Which went to Dry for his simple but effective white mk2. (after 4 hours of deliberating)

All in all, it was a spectacular day, and i would recommend to anybody that hasn't done the trip to players yet to do it, VAG or not. Its definitely earned its spot on our calender, and things can only get better. And a big thanks to the guys at Players, for making, us and everyone else feel so welcome. We will be back next year.