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STANDING ORDER FOR GOALDEN LOTTERY
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FAN ZONE Why Do We
Watch Southport Football Club So
why do we? Constant
ridicule at work, the struggle to find results if you can’t make the game,
uncovered terracing, cess pit toilets at some grounds, dodgy catering
facilities, more postponed games, awkward midweek trips and so on. So why do we? Because
we love it, we love our team, we love Southport Football Club. As
a fan since 1971 I have endured the downs that this club has put me through. The
failure to gain re-election in 1977. The decision taken by the people in charge
not to join the Alliance (now The Conference) when we finished fifth in our
first non-league season on the grounds that it would never catch on! The
revolving door of players in the late seventies and early eighties when things
were so desperate I sometimes thought I might get asked to play and that would
have been desperate! Collecting
(begging) in the town door to door to help us stave off extinction. The
relegation in the 2002/03 season when at times (away at Northwich) I
almost (but never really would) felt like saying I had had enough. No,
we live for the ups. The enjoyment we get when things go right and we get that
buzz of excitement that OUR TEAM gives us. Yes, it’s the our team thing
that does it for me. The feeling that we actually can say our team and feel a
part of it. The
best days of my life have been the pleasure Southport Football Club has given
me, THE best day of my life was the trip to Wembley, now my wife will read this
and say it should be our wedding day or the day the kids were born etc but I’m
an honest man! (any solicitors known doing cheap divorces!) and I remember
coming away from the stadium thinking that despite the result I can now say I
have seen MY team play at Wembley. The
highlights far outweigh the low points and these are what make it all
worthwhile. The
visits to grounds were you can stand alongside the opposition fans (in most
grounds) and, with one or two exceptions enjoy a trouble free game. Looking back
at the number of fans we took to Burscough on Bank Holiday Monday last year
without a hint of trouble and the same at Emley reminds me why I watch my team. Whilst
the quality on show may be that much better in the” Skyship” I only have to
listen to the comments some of my colleagues who are Liverpool/Everton fans make
about the treatment they get at grounds, the price of tickets, (£49 to watch
Chelsea against Liverpool I believe) the constant changing of fixtures to suit
the paymasters at Sky and the ridiculous wages that the players are on to
realise it’s not for me. Would
I turn my back on SFC if we were in the Premiership? Of course not, but, reality
says it won’t happen and getting our place back in the Football League would
be enough for me and I know a lot of other fans share this more realistic
ambition. After the Runcorn game last year I was reading some views expressed by
one of our fans after a number of “fans” were saying they would never watch
us again etc etc and they summed up the views of the true fan “ I go to watch Southport play because they
are MY team and football is as much a part of my life as my wife and kids (well,
possibly not, but you get my drift!). I chose to support Southport when I was 14
and I'll follow them no matter what league they play in, no matter who manages
or owns them and no matter how badly they play. Call me sad if you will, but in
my eyes, that's what makes a true supporter” Recently I read
an article which again sums it all up “ Supporting a football team also
includes the social part-standing next to a group of people you only meet at a
match and talking to them about the team, never to see them until the next
match” It includes the abject sorrow you feel when the team loses or puts on a
display worthy of a kids kick and run match on Saturday morning. It means
proudly wearing your team shirt on charity days in the middle of enemy territory
(Telford, last year). It means following your team to places like St James’
Park and seeing them only lose 6-0(McDonald wasn’t playing that day, thank
God) It means following them on an expedition to Stevenage hoping that they will
turn around a series of awful displays and win on the last day of the season,
only to not appear to join in the feelgood factor the rest of us had on that
day. It also means the absolute joy you feel when they win. It’s about that
unreachable, unexplainable human factor called hope. It’s almost a spiritual
thing-its not a religion as such but it brings people of diverse backgrounds,
opinions and feelings together for whatever they get out of it” Excellent
stuff! Let’s
hope there will be more highs in years to come. |
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