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Post by andygulls on Mar 4, 2009 21:48:07 GMT
....by watching a "You Tube" re run of that Saturday afternoon at Barnet all those years ago. As the build up to the game progressed on screen I found myself getting tense and focussed. My rational self was telling my brain "come on, you know the result, we win"! All to no avail. The kick off and the real highlights I am back in that away end, wracked with a physical and mental tension.
Jason Rees fires in the first goal and I am out of my chair shouting at the computer monitor and joining in the celebrations of the massed gulls in the ground. (Frightened the bloody dog sleeping peacefully in the hall though).
Kevin Hill nets the second and I see myself and my best mate celebrating behind the goal amongst the yellow and blue army. The Stuart Jones (whatever happened to him?) penalty save, Rees' injury, the David Graham 3rd - still feels too good to be true.
The second half - Barnet are coming down the slope, tension builds even more, the Ryan Green own goal the Barnet second and the miss from big old John Gayle all merge in an anxious wait for the end of the game. It's going to be OK time is running out Barnet need to score twice, come on its not going to happen. At last the final whistle. I watch the crowd run onto the pitch in celebration looking for myself in the joyous throng. I recall the physical pain as the tension of the day ebbs away and my whole body aches as the muscles relax. Watching again I still feel a sense of immense relief.
Why was watching this a mistake? Because it brings the realisation that I really do not want to be watching Torquay play in the conference (oh OK BSP). Somehow the fact that the club was nearly lost for good in the Roberts era is not a consideration to moderate the raw feeling I (and I suspect others) still maintain. We simply do not want to be a part of this league. No matter what the well reasoned arguments of Merse, BudleighGull and others may propose.
This feeling, along side other factors colours a perception of the relative merit of our achievements in some 102 games of PB's reign.
The overall winning percentage is good. I suspect that there are few managers who have a winning percentage above 50% and PB is currently at 57%
Much is made of what we have a right to expect. I do not see the collapse under Roberts as an excuse for us not to have lofty expectations. Rather that we must take advantage of our fortunate situation in having a strong board that currently has the capacity to support the manager with financial backing that is undoubtedly amongst the best in this league. Without success I see support further ebbing away and the prophesies of Mike Bateson so reviled by many will come to fruition.
As Dave R points out on another thread March sees a run of 7 eminently winnable games. We should expect to win these just as we did last night. It will not be easy but if we do then a run at the title and a season ending titanic battle with Burton is NOT out of the question.
There is still everything to play for and there is not one contributor to this board who does not want success is there?
You can keep the better TV coverage under Setanta and the access to internet commentary via the BBC. I want to be back in the football league and at this stage and time in our existence I and many others I suspect, have a justifiable high expectation. We have an opportunity the like of which may not hang around for long (particularly in the light of the attendance issues). Let us hope that we MARCH towards success matching and exceeding the expectations of all of us.
Up the Gulls!
oops now put in the winning % at 57%
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Dave
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Post by Dave on Mar 4, 2009 22:24:47 GMT
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Post by stuartB on Mar 4, 2009 22:57:37 GMT
I just re-watched part1 and part2 on you tube. wow. I was agitated, sweating, excited, angry (defo foul on Jones for their second), relieved, happy, sad ( for Barnet fans), angry (never again, MB!)
will we ever learn. people used to say I look old and grey for 45 but i used to say "it's because I had 2 paper rounds as a kid" but I shall be more truthful in future and say "I support torquay united and I'm actually only 16!"
Supporting TUFC should carry a government health warning.
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Post by Budleigh on Mar 5, 2009 10:02:58 GMT
What a great day out that turned out to be... we got there really early and the crowd was beginning to grow. But Shaun (you'll have read about him elsewhare by now) decided it didn't look too bad and he was off for a wander... I decided to stay in the queue having seen the coach loads on the M5 still to descend on us. Takes no prizes for guessing he disappeared up to the pub! The queue was getting longer and longer, he had returned briefly but then needed to go again to find a toilet... the queue started moving and it was obvious, even from my position down at the front, that we wouldn't all be getting in. Talk about cutting it fine, three people away from the turnstile and he reappeared (would I have waited for him? Only cos he was driving!) Once inside I got pulled aside by local radio and asked the big question, 'Who should be playing in goal?', bluffed through that one cos I really didn't mind. Second time on radio that day, listening in on Talk Sport coming up we'd phoned in and there I was chatting away about the game on national radio.
Funny thing was, even when we were so far ahead and it was fairly obvious the day was ours I still had this awful nagging feeling that all would collapse.... Surely a syndrome of following the Gulls!
Then on to the pitch after... fantastic! Now try telling 'followers' of Chelsea, Man United etc what that feeling is like, they wouldn't have a clue...
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Fonda
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Post by Fonda on Mar 5, 2009 11:15:37 GMT
To be fair, i doubt many clubs supoorters can appreciate what staying in the football league in a final day shoot-out feels like. I think this notion that fans at the top of the game have a different feeling for thier club is nonsense. Of course there are 'fans' who support those clubs for the wrong reasons - but there are 'real' supporters up there too. The elation for a United fan, having waited 26 years for a title (most of which in the shadow of their hated rivals) was intense i'm sure. We should probably try and get away from the idea we are in some way 'better' than them.
As for Barnet, what a day. Got to the coach station at stupid o-clock, to be told we'd been moved from one coach to another (for what reason, i have no idea). Then the journey began. We seemed to stop at every service station on route (i'm sure we didn't in reality), though we definitely did stop at Reading, for a ridiculous amount of time considering at was already about 1pm! We got to Barnet about 7 hours after leaving the Bay, to be met with nose to tail traffic. It was well after 2 by this time, so we jumped off the coach and ran through Barnet town centre to the ground. We arrived, to be met by a huge queue at the turnstiles, and sure enough when we were about 10 metres from the turnstile, they closed them. Gutted. So we spent the opening minutes walking around the ground - too nervous to stand still. It was a painful day for everyone concerned i'm sure, but especially to those of us that couldn't see what was happening! We were getting messages from those watching the TV at home. It was then that we gathered behind the away end, as we realised watching the reaction of those on the back row of the stand was the best way of gauging what was going on inside. We got moved along at one stage as we were 'making too much noise' by joining in with the chants of the yellow army inside. At one point towards the end, i found myself standing on a bollard, peering between the gap in the gate - i could see a strip of pitch at least 2 metres wide i think! Then when the final whistle went they let us in to join in the celebrations, i was staggered by the slope on the pitch - one foot was higher than the other! The journey back was certainly better than the journey up. Stopping somewhere (though i forget where) to drink champagne and eat bar snacks already prepared in the event of the right result. Needless to say the coach we were initially on arrived in North London in good time and everyone on it enjoyed the 90 minutes from the right side of the fence!
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Post by Budleigh on Mar 5, 2009 11:39:41 GMT
I was really meaning the 'local' supporters, those who live in South Devon and wear the big boys shirts and profess to have a deep feeling for their club. The type that pour scorn when you tell them you go up to Plainmoor to watch United. It's these people who I don't think no the real feelings. I have many friends who support premiership teams and they feel very deeply for them, but I still profess that watching, and expecting, your team to win week-in, week-out and collecting silverware as the norm doesn't compare to it actually happening to a club that doesn't have the expectations. I would imagine the supporters of, say, Stoke City would feel far more excitement and elation if they were to win the Carling Cup than those Man Utd supporters did last weekend...
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Fonda
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Post by Fonda on Mar 5, 2009 12:29:33 GMT
I was really meaning the 'local' supporters, those who live in South Devon and wear the big boys shirts and profess to have a deep feeling for their club. The type that pour scorn when you tell them you go up to Plainmoor to watch United. It's these people who I don't think no the real feelings. I have many friends who support premiership teams and they feel very deeply for them, but I still profess that watching, and expecting, your team to win week-in, week-out and collecting silverware as the norm doesn't compare to it actually happening to a club that doesn't have the expectations . I would imagine the supporters of, say, Stoke City would feel far more excitement and elation if they were to win the Carling Cup than those Man Utd supporters did last weekend... I wouldn't doubt that for a second. It's all relative though isn't it. Whilst a Man Utd fan might not find any great excitment by winning the Carling Cup, i'm sure they were pretty elated to win the Champions League last season. It's still something they've only managed 3 times, so i doubt they've got blase about that yet. I'm sure a 'real' United fan would experience the same excitement from winning that, as we'd gain from promotion back into the League. It doesn't matter what level your club is playing at, if you're a proper supporter, and your club achieves something special (relatively speaking), you enjoy it. |
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Dave
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Post by Dave on Mar 5, 2009 20:13:44 GMT
Shane you must have been so gutted not to get to see the match and I bet you cursed all those stops that were made on the trip up to the game.Just how would you have felt if we had lost into the bargain.
One of the biggest cock ups that day and its a good job most of our fans are well behaved, or else there could have been a big riot.Still you were there and got to join in the celebrations and that must have been some consolation.
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Dave
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Post by Dave on Mar 5, 2009 20:41:54 GMT
BudleighGull, I can't really agree with any of your points in your post, I'm sure when ever a team like man u wins any title, it will aways mean so much to their fans and one of the main reasons will be bragging rights.
The feeling that your team is the top team in the country, must be a great feeling and can you really get fed up with your team nearly aways winning? Yes any team that wins a cup or promotion when they were the underdogs will be such a great feeling for the fans of that club, but it will only be a one off. The next season as they struggle to win a game and maybe face going back down again, that great felling will soon be forgotten.
If we had a team that was always going to win most of its matches, do you not feel such a winning team, would see much better support than a team who often sent its fans home, cursing and asking themselves why they bother to go. If all those who go to Man U games got fed up with just seeing a winning team, there would be another 75.000 who would be happy to take their places at the matches.
I do wonder at times if attitudes like yours come about as a way to soften the disappointment supporting a team like TUFC can often bring, its like saying well what did we expect, we are a small town club etc.Trust me if TUFC put out a team that won every week, you would in time see a full Plainmoor every game, its defeats that so often can be the reason some give up going.
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Post by Budleigh on Mar 5, 2009 22:18:51 GMT
Again, as I mentioned in my reply earlier, I was generally meaning those that DON'T actually go to watch 'their club' but affiliate themselves to it because they see them week-in, week-out on the television and as schoolboys were probably asked 'who do you support?' and because, say, Chelsea were top of the league and in vogue it became their club. I meant more the people who walk aroung the bay with their replica shirts on but have rarely, if ever, seen their club play but have attached themselves to it and join in the celebrations when silverware is won. What I was trying to get across is that they would have so much more feeling for a club if they went to support their local, lesser team, and would feel the highs and low's to a greater degree. I wasn't so much talking about the died-in-the-wool Arsenal supporter whose lived in Islington all his life and has watched them as a youngster. More the 'jump on the bandwagon' type who may support their club for a number of years but will never have that true depth of feeling because they haven't got the club ingrained within to the same degree...
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Dave
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Post by Dave on Mar 5, 2009 22:22:33 GMT
I got your drift now Leigh, don't worry merse will tell you, sometimes It takes a while for me to get the point ;D
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Post by andygulls on Mar 5, 2009 22:39:44 GMT
I was really meaning the 'local' supporters, those who live in South Devon and wear the big boys shirts and profess to have a deep feeling for their club. The type that pour scorn when you tell them you go up to Plainmoor to watch United. It's these people who I don't think no the real feelings. I have many friends who support premiership teams and they feel very deeply for them, but I still profess that watching, and expecting, your team to win week-in, week-out and collecting silverware as the norm doesn't compare to it actually happening to a club that doesn't have the expectations. I would imagine the supporters of, say, Stoke City would feel far more excitement and elation if they were to win the Carling Cup than those Man Utd supporters did last weekend... There are some good points here. However It is possible for someone to harbour strong feelings for their local club and an adopted higher league club. My elder lads (twins) have reached the age of 21. They started attending Plainmoor from the age of 4. Supporting TUFC is part of their makeup and at uni in Southampton they have been known to get a group of mates together to purchase a pub meal just to add some force to an argument with the landlord for switching to Setanta to watch Torquay. If you had seen the text sent to me by one of them upon the occasion of Roscoe DSanes' dismissal last Saturday you would not have guessed that he is on track to get his degree in English! Equally these lads adopted "bigger" clubs when young. The lad who sent the text - Man Utd and believe me when he watches them he is as passionate and anxious about the result as he is about the Gulls. The other lad adopted the upcoming Blackburn Rovers (before their promotion to the top flight in the 90's) and he too has exhibited a passion for them and their results ( but perhaps not quite as strong as the passion he demonstrated when questioning Hancox about the reason for taking off Jamie Ward during the first half of a game at Plainmoor in the season that must not be mentioned.  I've never been able to split loyalties quite like that. When younger (the 70's)I was a keen follower of Man City Bell, Marsh Summerbee, Corrigan, Doyle,Tueart etc. I watched a fair bit of them when I was in London in the early 80's but never quite with the same passion as I continue to feel for TU and now hardly give their results a glance. Perhaps it's an age thing? |
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Post by Jon on Mar 5, 2009 23:00:21 GMT
I was generally meaning those that DON'T actually go to watch 'their club' but affiliate themselves to it because they see them week-in, week-out on the television The kind of supporter for whom the worst it has ever got was when it got so bad that they had to switch off the telly. They don't know what suffering is do they? |
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Rob
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Post by Rob on Mar 5, 2009 23:03:28 GMT
Me and my Hull supporting mate who drove down from East Yorks/Humberside that day were 4th and 5th in the queue at Underhill and I would have wet my pants rather than leave that queue. What a day. What an atmosphere. Jason Rees coming on at the final whistle on crutches. Davey slamming one in to make it 3 at half time and Chris Kamara(?) 100 foot in the air on a fireman's ladder. Probably safer than their "temporary" terracing, mind. It was not much over 10 years to the day my Gulls passionate Grandfather and former Borough Surveyor for LB Barnet passed away. He had relished the prospect of travelling only 10 minutes from his Mill Hill home to watch the Gulls at Conference promoted Barnet. It's fair to say our Wembley trip that year and Bamber's Right Foot that he managed to hold on for, didn't trouble him in terms of that Underhill visit being off limits for the following season. You see, it was written that we would win that day, you know. Had a lovely chat with a Barnet fan on the pitch at the end. His parting shot was that he now had to go to work that evening with a load of plastic Gooners and Spurs. We hugged. I'm sure he's alright now. A very emotional day.   |
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Post by Budleigh on Mar 6, 2009 9:22:54 GMT
When I was in London I lived in Greenwich and used to visit the derelict Valley, then for my football 'fix' i'd go to Charlton games, firstly at Selhurst, then back at the Valley and try and I get to see three or four a season now when i'm up there working.
I really got into the 'Back to the Valley' campaign and enjoyed my games watching the Addicks. But it was never the same as watching United, and I didn't feel any real sense of loss when they lost their Premiership status, as previous relegations didn't have any effect, nor promotions back to be honest. But I still look out for their results, still look at the website and take an interest but you can only really feel the passion for one team...
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