Chris Brown
Tangerine
THERE are two sorts of football fan. There are those that like to watch the Premiership and Champions League on telly, are up to date on transfers, managerial spats, players’ names and the like, but don’t actually follow any one team; and there are those whose passion for a club runs deep.
I have some sympathy for those in the first group because they lack something special: ecstasy or agony, joy or pain, it just ain’t no good unless it hurts. I cant imagine life without the euphoria of singing “there’s only one pool in it” in Joe Mac’s bar as the “Mickey Mousers” are sent packing for the second time this season, nor the desperate feeling that engulfed me when Wigan beat us at home, putting us into the bottom three for the first time this season. It just can’t be over, can it?
Blackpool fans thought that the rocking start we made would see us through – fourth in the table after seven games, a Champions League spot, what a weekend. Although I realised that in my lifetime this would most likely be the highest league position I’d ever see. By Christmas and that great win at Sunderland, where Steve Bruce commented that he felt he’d been mugged by a pub team, and life was all steak and eggs.
However, everything started slipping as the lack of depth in our squad started to show and things have gone tits up since January, and the pressure to stay up mounts. How different it now is.
Where only a few months ago everyone was saying how well we were playing, a breath of fresh air in the Premiership. Now, as I wander the streets of Westport worrying where the next point might come from, everyone is shaking their heads, looking at me in the sad manner that you’d usually reserve for somebody whose hamster had just died.
They remind me of vultures circling like they do over a thirsty man in a desert carrying an empty water bottle – just waiting for the end and for the seasiders to go down. Nobody seems to think we will now avoid relegation. It just can’t end like this – can it?
Fans of the big clubs seem to moan all the time. United fans with their “We’re not playing that well, not the vintage stuff we expect” as they wait for title number 19 and a Champions League semi-final.
Arsenal fans bemoaning how patient they are being as they have to watch players of the quality of Van Persie, Walcott, Arshavin, Fabregas and Wilshere, the poor luvs.
Liverpool fans seem to whinge and whine at just about everything. Last week’s Fan’s Fare included a comment about wingers (Beckham, Giggs, Ronaldo and Nani) – “It’s not pretty and it’s definitely not football” – which would bring a tear to a glass eye. It’s difficult to imagine four better players, given Beckham’s accuracy, Giggs’s and Nani’s ability to run with a ball, and Ronaldo’s outstanding ability.
Blackpool’s season has been nothing short of brilliant. We love playing in the top flight against great teams with wonderful players. We’ve got Stoke at home, Spurs away, Bolton at home and then (gulp) Man United away. Ever since the fixtures were out, playing away at Old Trafford on the last day of the season has caused concern. If we need points to stay up, this is the last place you’d want to be playing.
God, if you’re reading this, could we win back-to-back home games for the first time this season and maybe get a point at Spurs? Come on Pool.omfield Rd. Come On Pool.
