Mellor 3 Ward 4
Well-known member
Working in London, I'm surrounded by Arsenal/Spurs\Chelsea and the odd Man U of course. They've all, seeing me disappear for games midweek, and hearing me talk about the club, been aware of what's been going on and are happy for me. I was even given a bottle of bubbly on the Tuesday after the Wigan game!
For my part, I don't mind the newbies or returners who buy season tickets. Their money is as good as anybody else's to the club. But there's one thing that they, and all the plastics, will never know. They'll never know what it means to have been there for the whole thing. What felt like an inexorable decline from about 1991, the mess of the 90s generally, seeing us lose the Goldstone and the club's soul, half time on the terrace at Hereford, putting up with Gillingham, fighting for the club's very existence. Then Withdean, then this. Everybody who was there for all of that had a feeling last Monday that the JCLs simply can't appreciate. I'm not saying we're better fans or anything, but part of me feels that those supporters have in all seriousness missed out on something that binds just a few thousand people in a feeling that can't be bought, can't be polished or sold by Sky, can't really adequately be explained. (I can't, anyway.) I almost feel a bit sorry for them, missing out on what that felt like.
I'm sure most of them won't give a damn, and will have enjoyed promotion hugely. Fair play - who wouldn't? But for a few thousand, it was just a bit more special than they'll ever realise, I think.
Spot on.