As a Brentford fan, I’m used to having nothing. I’m used to crushing disappointment. I’m used to either painful defeats, or being lead all the way to the “Promised Land”, only to have it slammed in my face. It is something which has made me a better person, and has taught me many a life lesson – all that boring stuff my Dad used to tell me as reasons why I wasn’t supporting Chelsea?
Due to my own football commitments, I only make the odd game nowdays (but had Season Tickets for Leroy Rosenior and Terry Butcher – I must have been terrible in a past life). But at the Coventry game, my father and I took a minute before the match to reflect on how far we’d come.
“Do you remember…” (when you had hair?) “…when we were here, with a Season Ticket, in the pouring rain – and you said Dad, why are we so rubbish all the time? Why do Fulham get bought, QPR get money, even clubs like bloody Hull have money? No-one will ever buy us, we’re going to go down and what’s the point…”
This was the Leroy Rosenior era, and all I dreamt of at that time was a mid-table finish and some players to get excited about. (And I had to withstand, “ARRRRRGH FOR $&%&’s SAKE BROOKER!” every 3minutes from the crowd).
Fast forward to now. We go 1-0 down. The crowd gets edgy. We make a few more errors at the back, and the crowd turns on our players. I totally understand it, and I had to catch myself to not join in. But c’mon really? We lose 1 game in 23 and have a bad opening 10 minutes and I hear the same stuff I heard when Mr Butcher was here. The reality is, in 2007 I would have given my left testicle to be where Peterborough are now…
We have to enjoy this journey. We have to enjoy the football. We have to enjoy these players and give them all our backing. You need to step back and think about why you support a club. It isn’t to see ‘P’ next to their name at the end of the season; it’s to be excited, to be “in with a shout”, to dream. Yes, I will need new underwear the day we get the P next to our name – but I’m no fool. The Championship is going to be one hell of a challenge.
What I am saying is; Don’t focus solely on the goal – enjoy the journey. Remember the countless, terrible, empty seasons where we had nothing. People were rattling buckets for loose change to keep the club going.
Enjoy where we are now, and get behind the team. If we don’t go up, there’s always next year. I wouldn’t be unhappy if the world ended now, or Dr Who keeps this season going until the end of time.
But more importantly – when we have the new stadium and we are mid-table in the Championship, don’t forget where we came from maaaan. Because everything from here on in is incredible.
ENJOY!
YOU REDS!
Robert Tebby
@tebbissimo
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Well said fella.
We ARE going up!
Excellent bit of perspective.
Very true… one off day does not a bad season make.
I couldn’t agree with you more. What a season, let’s enjoy it.
As you say, what the team and the manager need to hear every week is our complete support, our full backing and it does make a difference. Look at the Orient game, what an amazing vocal, emotional and unwavering 90 minutes of support. It must of played its part. I have no doubt that it affected the Orient players and at the same time boosted ours.
They also need our support when things aren’t going so well on the pitch – we don’t want to become the 12th man for the opposition, do we?
Glad you liked it!
Totally agree – watching Liverpool last night, and some La Liga that this is more important than ever.
Liverpool fans singing “You’ll never walk alone” at the end (A game where Sunderland were fiercely competitive in) helped them get over the line.
Orient fans BOOED at the Oldham game, like they lost the FA Cup 1st Round.
There are no easy games at this time of the season. Teams with “The Shackles off” are a totally different proposition. We need to enjoy it as fans so that the players (who are hungry, and been hurt before here) can try and enjoy it themselves.
Well said the life of every football fan in a nutshell alas it is always the fans that pick up the pieces and the heart ache and still go back week after bloody week good luck to you all especially Brentford fans from here on?