Tellly Clapping

The second Saturday on the trot when you can watch Rovers on the box.  This must be how it would feel if we ever made it to the Premier League. Yet the guilt, watching on TV instead of going, remains.

Last Saturday, for family reasons, I couldn’t make it to PP. Season ticket holders count as being there anyway, and the club still got my money.   However, watching on telly never beats being at the game. It’s nots just the atmosphere, it’s the disconnect from the people around you. And of course, with games on telly you only ever get to see what is within the camera arch. I much prefer being at a live sport event than at something on TV. Cricket, Rugby, Athletics all feel better in the flesh. That’s probably also true of other stuff too. Gigs are better in person but the exception is stadium comedy tours. Watching on a big screen, miles away from the front, is no different to watching on telly. A waste of time, money and energy. A no from me.

There are, of course, some who can’t make it to the match.  Physical infirmity, distance, work commitments and affordability all come into play.  The away game at Chesterfield would be one of the cheaper games to get to. 140 miles or so across the Peaks, a 2 hour drive. 12:30 kick off means you’d be back before sunset. The journey from Lime St is also just over 2 hrs, but the return fare is £40+. Looking at the timetable you could still make it back by sunset. Yet these are expensive times. Going to an away game is great, but drains the bank account with travel costs so high.

There is always the cry ‘you’re not a real fan unless you go to the match’. I’ve always found that a bit arrogant.  My Dad was a fanatical Rovers fan. However, after his stroke in the late 60s, he probably only got to attend half a dozen game before he died in 1978. Times were different then. We didn’t have a car, buses were difficult to access and the ground itself had no provision for disabled supporters worthy of the name. We went when family members visited who had a car. And I went to all the home games I could to give him a match report. He always wanted to know who played well, who had a stinker, what the goals were like, etc. Not a proper fan? 

Saturday at Chesterfield will be a tough test.  I wonder how that late equaliser will affect team morale. I suspect very little. Respect to those who are making the journey, however you’re watching, get behind the team, celebrate the performance and, in my case, be prepared to apologise to the neighbours for the shouting.