A Take From A Fellow Taty...
Football fans have fascinated me for years. It started when I was very young, travelling the country with my dad with all of these people that never missed a Newcastle game.
For a bit of early context, there has been a recent debate with mates of mine and many on social media about the resumption of behind closed doors Premier League matches, and more importantly to me, the FA Cup. The two sides of the arguments have been simple. One side wants Newcastle United to win the FA Cup regardless if fans are there or not. The other side is that we don’t want Newcastle United to reach Wembley (even for the semi final) if fans can’t be there to see it. I’ll come onto that in a bit.
I loved Newcastle United that much when I was a kid, that not just the players were my heroes, these people who never missed a game, these fans, were my heroes. To me, Newcastle United was the greatest football club in the world.
My obsession continued, I got more interested in fan movements, groups, whatever you want to call them. I was fascinated by football hooliganism, not in the sense that I wanted to be one, just the idea of it. I even did my dissertation at University on that topic.
I was so dedicated to Newcastle United I quickly developed FOMO (Fear Of Missing Out). I couldn’t miss a game. I think I missed 2 games home and away in around 8 years. I travelled to all 7 European away games at the age of 21 in the 2012/13 season, from Athens, to Madeira, to Brugge, to Bordeaux, to Kharkiv, to Moscow and finally Lisbon.
Many reading this may think "what a sad prick" but my intention here isn’t to come across arrogant. My intention is to highlight the different areas of being a football fan.
A lot of my close mates are exactly the same as me. And there are hundreds who follow Newcastle United who are the same. It’s interesting. You get to know these people, even if you don’t know their name you recognise them from travelling everywhere. You nod at them, shake their hand, ask how they are. Sometimes you walk away not knowing their fucking name, but you just have huge respect for each other.
I travel with one bloke who has probably one missed 1 or 2 games in around 30 years. Fans plan their lives around it. Jobs, holidays. People miss weddings, christenings, birthdays. My Dad and I missed my sisters 18th because we went to FK Ventspils away in Latvia. She wasn’t arsed like, but it’s what happened. Many would think that is unforgivable.
I’ve always looked for a job that would allow me to attend the games, where I could easily swap shifts. Any time a family member told me about some occasion coming up, I always checked the fixture list to see where I was due to be. And the match came first.
That’s how I was brought up, not just my dad (R.I.P), but by the people I was introduced to and travelled with.
This leads me back to the FA Cup. I’ve always dreamt of the day Newcastle United lifted a trophy. How I’d react, picturing exactly where I’d be stood in Wembley if it was there. At no point did I ever imagine the first trophy of my lifetime to be behind closed doors at the lifeless shit-tip that is Wembley Stadium. I don’t want that to be it.
Football isn’t a TV show for me, it was ingrained in me to follow my team wherever they go. And fuck the armchair fan along the way that contributed to football being ruined by Sky.
Would I want Newcastle to lose if hypothetically we made it to the final? No. But would I be fucking gutted if I missed it? Absolutely. Despite the fact no one would be there, it’s not how I imagine Newcastle winning a trophy.
I missed Brighton away in the Championship a few years back. Tuesday night, exactly the sort of trip you welcome. We won 2-1 in the last minute in a top-of-the-table clash, and whilst I celebrated the goal, I was immediately filled with this gut wrenching disappointment that I wasn’t there. Seeing the Newcastle end falling all over each other. Devastated.
The majority of Newcastle fans love the club dearly, and will follow Newcastle, mostly at home but some away, but be able to miss the odd game and wouldn’t plan their entire lives around it. They want Newcastle United to be successful regardless of their attendance. Many other Newcastle fans can only enjoy watching Newcastle United through a TV, a radio or an illegal stream. So to them, it wouldn’t really be any different. I’m not trying to split people here. We’re all Newcastle fans in our own way. What I’m trying to do is give some reason as to why some fans can’t bare the idea that Newcastle United won something without them in attendance.
"Football without fans is nothing"
That statement couldn’t be more true. I watched a video of a team who won a trophy in a behind-closed-doors game. They lifted the trophy on the podium and the players had to keep their social distance! What a crock of shite. In an ideal world, they’d restart the FA Cup when fans can be there.
The FA Cup is for that day out as a football club, that dream of seeing your team win the most (until recent years) prestigious competition in world football.
Winning it when you can’t truly celebrate it makes it pointless to me. The occasion isn’t the same. No one will ever remember who won the FA Cup during lockdown because it’s not currently relevant.
So, a mixture of how shit it would be, and the fact that I can’t be there to see it, makes me wish it just wasn’t happening.
I do apologise for having that opinion, I wish I didn’t. Honestly. But it’s what fans with FOMO are currently thinking. We’ve dedicated our lives to Newcastle United dreaming of that day, the thought of watching it on a TV not surrounded by the people you always watch Newcastle with is horrible.
Of course, this is all hypothetical . We have to fucking beat Man City first! Newcastle United means everything to me, and of course I want them to succeed. The romantic in me wants it to be perfect! I respect the opinion that we can't really afford to be fussy. We can. We've waited that long!
If anyone has any medication, send it my way.
Anonymous
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