For the shirt - an April message

[Northumbergull]

In days of yore, football was a game played by you, for your team, often between two opposing ends of a town up and down their main street. No doubt matters got a little hectic at times, but most things could be settled after the game by a pint or three at the local pub.

What, then, of how how we might view the tournament played out on on the field of play today? To start with, stating the blindingly bleedin' obvious, of course we witness two teams going at it on a common ground. The question is, though, how involved might we still be in the spectacle in front of us? Are we just paying customers like theatre-goers gazing blankly at a moving screen? The answer has to be no!

Whether we arrived at the party after an invite or, like me, had your name inscribed on a team's supporters' club roll at birth (1960), we have all invested in our chosen club's fortunes in ways both great and small. Some of us are fortunate to have done well in life, financially, and can cough up a contribution or two that paves the way for the show to go on. Others find little opportunity beyond checking out the results, gaining solace after a week of effort coping with whatever is happening in their lives. But, to separate the two would be callous and not at all in the true spirit of the game, that being a togetherness that flows from a common joy at the fortunes, or otherwise, of the team we follow. It is this following that brings us side by side, even if we are separated by miles by the dozen or by the thousand.

How, though, do we identify with our shared desire and, perhaps more importantly, how does this identification involve us right at the heart of the team? For some of us, life consists of putting money aside each week to trek like Arctic explorers clocking up miles of road and service station grub. For me, it's most often no more than using my TUFC mug for my coffee and taking opportunities to spread the message of yellow & blue wherever I roam. I wish I was in a position to stand shoulder to shoulder on popsides or grandstands at games both home and away, but it is not to be. But, heaven forfend anybody who thinks those of us seemingly on the periphery are any less part of what it is that makes up Torquay United Football Club.

Looking more closely at that last sentence, you will find the answer to the question posed at the beginning of the last paragraph - what makes the team's heart beat? I suggest that what brings everything together is that TUFC is a club, a club as in "A group of people organized for a common purpose, especially a group that meets regularly." http://www.thefreedictionary.com/club" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

So, if the players ever think of getting above themselves, they need to consider this, they are only a small, squad-sized part of what TUF-C is all about. Sure, without their efforts we would have no game to follow. But, without us, they would be merely like actors on a screen, performers working at their job in the hope of a payday at the end of their endeavours.

One thing, though, one thing binds us all together as no other. One thing ties up our allegiance and brings us into that beating heart to pump life into our club, namely the faintest hint of the club shirt. On a busy street, in an airport departure lounge or on a crowded beach hundreds or thousands of miles away from home, we are stopped dead in our tracks at the merest glimpse of what we recognise as the emblem of our desires. Pulling one over your head, if you're so lucky, is like covering yourself with the past glories of generations of players and supporters. A little bit of the heart of the club rests in many a drawer in many a land across the globe, that's for sure.

All in all, what we expect and demand from the players is a recognition that we are equal partners when we adorn a club favour. Nothing elevates them above us. Indeed, they would be no better than modern day 'celebrities' if they thought that we would watch THEM just because they were so-called professionals. For that reason, the club shirt, even with its changing colours and logos, binds us together like little else, though many other things move our hearts and minds. So, as another season finishes with our customary last day antics, let us not forget those both near and far who wear that shirt, either physically or as a spiritual garment to bring themselves into the centre of the action. United we stand!

Cheers

Bruce