Another August...and Sweet F.A

So another washout summer meanders to a conclusion as a new football season kicks & screams into motion bringing renewed hope for fans across the country. However poor your team's showing last season (which ended a mere 2 months or so ago) August always brings waves of renewed optimism, a new level playing field, which even by September, can only leave your team within a dozen or so points of the league leaders with more than a hundred points to play for...

After 20 years as a season ticket holder in the West Stand at Portman Road (that's home to Ipswich Town to the uninitiated), various reasons, including cost, frustration, lack of enjoyment & the desire to actually get a life led me to abandon the Saturday ritual 3 or so years ago.

At the time, it was a huge wrench to `let go' & sling the annual request to renew my season ticket into the re-cycling. Having spent a large amount of the previous 20 years telling fellow supporters that `this year will be the last time I waste my hard earned money watching this overpaid shower...', the actual step of putting my money where my mouth is (or to be more accurate, actually keeping my money in my wallet) came almost as much as a shock to me as it did to my friends & family.

Over the years ther have been some highs & , lows - Beating Inter Milan at home & then being at the San Siro for the return leg will forever be a great memory, the play-off final at the old Wembley Stadium where we won promotion back to the Premiership, getting the point at Oxford in 1992 to win the league & become founder members of the new Premier League are all high points. low points...to numerous to mention without extensive therapy...

I did think that I would struggle on a Saturday afternoon but soon settled into a routine of sitting in the local pub (The Swan in Bures) with a local Paper & a personal radio to listen to the (completely unbiased honest, but weren't we robbed there) coverage from BBC Radio Suffolk (That's the second plug for BBC Local Radio in 2 posts, I must be due a mug)


Quite apart from the time not spent travelling to & from the match which all told would wipe out the best part of my Saturday, the new arrangement has had other advantages, for example, if the game is going poorly & it is apparent that we would struggle to beat a veteran team from Sudbury WI as we go 3/4 or more nil down, I can turn off the radio, buy another pint of IPA & turn my attention to the Sudoko in the paper. If I had been at the game, I would have been becoming increasingly p*ssed off, before storming out ten minutes from the end, advising all who would listen that I would rather spend my time at home cutting my toenails. The impact of such anger & frustration was completely lost as the players would not have heard my disapproval, & even if they had would unlikely to have been concerned as they thought of their next overinflated paycheck, & I would then have to stand in the carpark waiting for the people who gave me a lift to return to the car & take me home.

I must also be honest & admit that the hours spent ironing whilst listening to midweek matches on the radio have on the most part been more satisfying than spending the evening rushing to the match after work & then fighting through the traffic on the way home after another frustrating loss to a lower league side in whatever guise the league cup happens to be in this year.

Anyway, Ipswich unbeaten in the league & second only on alphabetical order. Best post that quickly...

Since I've been with my new partner I've been introduced to the joys of youth football, with obnoxios screaming parents offering their offspring helpfull & vocal`advice', mostly in contradiction to what the manager / coaches are trying to convey - `kick him' or `get the ball' some of the more repeatable offerings. Its enough to make you think that £25 a match to watch the inept b*llocks dished up by the proffesionals is a bargain....

20 years ago, I would have scorned my current self & thrown such insults as `part time supporter' etc. Now I would Reply `I have a life' or `I have mortgage'. I also have a Radio Suffolk tinted view as to Ipswich's chances this season - it seems we are certain to win the league, the FA cup, the Boat Race...

August is a golden time of hope for all football supporters at whatever level of the game, so despite the weather, to all fans of whatever team, here's to a new season - enjoy the optimisim whilst you can...and emember, there actually IS life beyond the terrace, and to be homest, it's not that bad...

I think 3 years away from the overpriced frustration of watching professional football has made me a more mellow & easy going individual. I'ts certainly left me with more money for beer which can never be a bad thing & gives me more time to spend with the missus & the boys... oh well, I can't have it all ways.

Come on you blues...