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| Ungrouped | By Knowl | 16/06/2010 at 20:12 |
Dan the City Fan
I am a lifelong Coventry City fan and have had a season ticket for a number of years. My first City game was when I was eight, in 1988, when I saw Big Cyrille Regis score from close range to help City win 1-0 on a wet Tuesday night in February. That night my uncle told me before the game that Cyrille was playing like a cart horse and being eight years old I couldn’t work out whether a cart horse was good or bad. After he scored I decided every team needed a cart horse upfront and since then the Sky Blues have had their fair share of cart horses.
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In life to succeed you need the support and encouragement of people around you to help you through it. Life has its highs and has its lows but the people around you can help guide you on your way.
When I was at school, I wasn’t the most focussed of students, as most of the time I was gazing out of the window watching another year group play football on the school field or thinking about my forthcoming Swift Valley Colts fixture against the strong Mount Nod team the following Sunday. I was in the classroom but my mind was somewhere else, I witnessed some great goals on that school field from my seat in the corner of the science lab and it really didn’t help my progress in my studies, but certainly helped double science lesson pass by as quickly as possible. When it came to coursework I still lacked focus and required the assistance of my mum and older brother to help me get the work done, their support gave me guidance and motivation and their interest in my work helped me complete the task in hand.
Comparisons can be found in being a football fan and I could compare this to the way some City fans treated Leon Best. Booing him on and off the field cannot have had a great effect on his motivation to succeed when wearing the Sky Blues shirt. In my opinion, Bestie has been one of our better strikers in recent years, he scored goals and contributed well to team which seriously needed some inspiration. It was no surprise that once Bestie left the City, our performances started to become somewhat laboured and one dimensional with a lack of cohesion between our midfield and strikers. If we had supported Leon Best we could have got more from him and he may have given us the cutting edge required to break into the top 10 of the championship. I am only using Bestie as one example of how negativity amongst the supporters can seriously damage the performance on the field.
When each supporter makes their journey to the Ricoh Arena are you preparing to support your team throughout the whole 90 minutes or are you going to boo and be a negative influence on the team?????
Football is a passion for all fans and as fans we chose Coventry City Football Club – they did not choose us. In my case, my uncle was born and raised in Coundon and was a huge City fan, he then influenced me to become a City fan, so essentially I chose to support Coventry City – they didn’t choose me….
Like all City fans I love Coventry City first and the love of football follows a close second. Do I love Coventry City for the wonderful free-flowing total football they play and do I love Coventry City for having a trophy cabinet which is full on every shelf … well we all know the answer to that!
I chose Coventry City for a reason… I cannot tell you why and at many a game last season I wondered why I chose them. Throughout the season I questioned my decision on many occasions but once you have made the decision to support a team you can’t go back on it. It’s a decision you make for life.
I like to consider myself a positive fan, if we concede I am the first in my block jumping to my feet and shouting words of encouragement to try and play my part in influencing the team, can Freddy Eastwood hear my words ?? No he cannot but I can go home content that I supported my team from beginning to end. Can this be said for every fan ???? Well, in my experiences of recent years the answer is NO. Seeing and hearing negative fans is something I have witnessed too many times in recent years at the Ricoh as we have seen the performance of some players who have received some stick from the City fans fade away and eventually resulting in the player leaving the club. If the fans are positive throughout and support the players, a fresh improved attitude within the players will be displayed. In professional sport margins for error become smaller and smaller and can be the difference between winning and losing, negativity within the fans can also contribute and could be a deciding factor between winning a game or losing one.
Behind every winning team is a passionate and supportive core of fans, Liverpool have the Kop who will support the team through thick and thin, Manchester United have the Stretford Enders. Last season Blackpool didn’t bring the biggest away following to the Ricoh but boy did they make a noise, they supported their team from the first kick to the very last and the reward for such support was promotion to the Premier League. In my opinion an achievement earned not only by the players but also by the supporters of the Seasiders.
The proudest night of being a City fan was Tuesday 27th September 2007 when we travelled to Old Trafford. 11,000 City fans made their way to the north-west where we supported our team from minute 1 to the usual 96 minutes at Old Trafford. I travelled home that night not only proud to have witnessed Coventry City win at Old Trafford but I was proud to be a City fan. We stood for the duration of the game and sang, cheered and supported our Sky Blues to victory. In 1987 we filled Wembley Stadium with 40,000 plus fans and got the desired result because we supported the team. If our fans can show that commitment and positivity every week, home and away, I know our season will be better than the last.
With a new manager in Ady Boothroyd City fans have a clean slate. I won’t go into what I think of Ady Boothroyd, this can be discussed in a piece nearer the start of the season and after he has made his first few signings. What we do have is a manager of pedigree who was once quoted as being one of the brightest young managers in the country. Like I say we have a clean slate, it is an opportunity to create a sense of positivity within the fans to stand up and support the team, remember it was your choice to support Coventry City FC, now stand up and be counted and play your part in becoming a winning team.
I have created a Facebook page for the corner underneath the Scoreboard at the Ricoh to be renamed Singers Corner, which is a play on words as Coventry City used to be known as Singers FC. This could be our Kop or Stretford End, get yourself a ticket in Singers Corner, stand tall and sing it loud for your mighty Sky Blues. It is a fresh start and let’s make a start by being positive and supportive of any player who pulls on the Sky Blue shirt of Coventry City.
So with a new season approaching all I can promise is one thing, I can assure you I will be positive. It was my decision to become a sky blue and I am standing by this through thick or thin. It’s a new season, with a new manager, new players and a new attitude amongst the City faithful.
Lets All Sing Together
PLAY UP SKY BLUES
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