Owners come and go, fans are here to stay
MY GRANDFATHER is to blame – and I never even met him! Having died way too young and more than a decade before I arrived on the scene, it was down to his legacy that I have endured half a century of tears of joy and howls of anguish supporting one of the less glamorous teams in English football.
Having moved to the city when my mother was a toddler, my grandad fell in love with the local football team, bought a season ticket every year, went to every home game and even took a coach ride down towembley with his work pals a few years after the war to watch them lose in the FA Cup final.
Bizarrely, exactly 20 years later, I too watched them lose in an FA Cup final – but I wasn’t with work pals having travelled on a coach. I was about nine years of age and sitting in the family’s front room complete with rosette and rattle (true) and crying at the final whistle.
In truth, a touch of glamour has attached itself to following this team now, but genuine fans of my vintage have been through relegations, cup final defeats, near financial collapse and the eternal practice of selling players of any merit.
If you’re still “outfoxed”, it’s time to tell you the team in question is Leicester City who have, admittedly, seen a spectacular about turn in fortunes after being blessed by owners who are determined to bring success to the club as well as cherish their supporters and honour what the team means in the hearts of so many fans.
And that marks the Srivaddhanaprabha family from Thailand out from the greedy gang of owners of the so-called English “Big Six”,who were handed a lesson in fan power last week they’re unlikely to forget in a hurry. Having reportedly plotted for a couple of years, the sheer naked greed of the schemers who own Arsenal, Manchester United, Chelsea, Spurs, Liverpool and Manchester City was to be their undoing. Within 48 hours these chancers had united rival fans, players, managers, politicians and even a future king in open condemnation.
A day or so later, many were in front of the cameras offering unreserved apologies for their actions and apparently accepting full responsibility – but be in no doubt, this was because it was forced on them by the collapse of the doomed Super League. They had been utterly rumbled thanks to the innate
sense of fairness which real fans instantly showed towards the game they love.
That overbearing sense of loyalty might have sent shock waves across the world of European football, but any true fan could have told them instantly what to expect.
It’s part of a fan’s DNA. It’s why my late mum took me to watch Leicester City play at every London professional ground, save for two. Because as a little girl she’d grown up watching her dad go off, complete with rosette, to every home game.
That’s why both my sons grew up supporting Leicester City, despite living in South-east London. And that’s why it has already been passed on to my grandson who, despite not yet being at school, has his first replica kit. And hopefully my granddaughter will join in too.
And that’s why, when Leicester City defied all the odds and won the Premier League in 2016 – still referred to as one of
WHILE at first being undeniably funny, the truth behind Sir Keir Starmer being barred entry from a pub while campaigning in Bath actually runs a little deeper.
Pubs are a unique aspect of the British way of life and part of their appeal is they are all things to all people. You can, and frequently do, debate anything from religion to politics, from football to fashion, without fear of being told your views are unacceptable, unless you go wildly over the top.
That’s why the actions of landlord Rod Humphris in demanding Sir Keir “get out of my pub” were actually wrong.
Yes, publicans have the right to refuse to serve customers but that is reserved for clients who are drunk, rowdy or possible law breakers.
The Labour leader might be many things, but they do not include any of those.
It would have been better for Mr Humphris to pour Sir Keir his beer and challenge him with his loudly protested view that he has failed as leader of the Opposition.
After all, most of the country seems to agree with the publican and not the politician.
sport’s greatest fairy tales – the tears streamed down my face as I heard Andrea Bocelli sing at the King Power stadium, prior to the team lifting the cup. My mum had died a little over a year before and the bond could hardly have been stronger.
Two years later the entire city watched in horror as owner Vichai was killed as his helicopter crashed after taking from the stadium. In the days that followed a sea of flowers grew outside the stadium as fans and people who just lived in the city wanted to show their respect . Players held daily vigils alongside the fans.
Can you honestly see that outpouring for any of the owners who were exposed last week? They need to realise, as most players and managers seem to acknowledge, that they are all temporary custodians of these clubs – some of which have been around for 150 years. In short, owners can come and go. Fans are in it, for life.