lost that loving feeling - Some people...

As we all know, as a season ticket holder, you can choose your seat but you can’t choose those who sit around you – it’s a shame you can’t. I sit behind woman and a man at the City Ground; I’m guessing they’re mother and son. She’s in her sixties and he’s middle-aged. They constantly disapprove, shake they’re heads and laugh when a Red has misplaced a pass. I call her ‘The Crow’ because the only sound she ever makes is a pained squawk; I call him all manner of names.

Last Saturday, Reidy made a good pass that Marlon King couldn’t quite get to – most of us clapped the move, but he shook his head and said irritably: “Why are they all clapping?” It’s called support, dickhead.

I wonder what people want sometimes; admittedly no one wants to be in the situation we’re in, but people like ‘Crow and Son’ don’t seem to think they’re part of it all, they assume things will get better regardless of whether they sing, shout or say f**k a couple of times.

They’re so wrong – we’re everything to the club and the club is nothing without us. Ok, Crow and Son have paid their season ticket money, but did they do that because of our success last year? I wonder if they have sleepless nights or whether they constantly look at statistics and form guides, or even consult psychics (I haven’t done that yet).

These people are glory hunters (yes, the City Ground is the wrong place to hunt) and I very much doubt that they’ll be at the City Ground next year, regardless of our status. They don’t seem to understand that misery is as much an ingredient of being a fan as elation is – imagine how dull it would be to win all of the time?

So what makes a ‘true’ fan? I’m a season ticket holder but I haven’t followed Forest away this season at all. I’d still call myself a true fan. A supporter who will travel all over to see the Reds is certainly a ‘dedicated’ fan. But, in addition, a true fan will worry about his team constantly; he/she will defend them (regardless of how shit they were), they’ll keep going to see them (even if they were in the conference) and they’ll shout and scream their way through games – anything less you’re simply not part of Nottingham Forest.

So I’m hoping that when I come to renew my season ticket next year, Crow and Son will have moved on – we don’t need people like them at the City Ground. If it’s true that fans are responsible for picking a few points up a season, for lifting the players, then surely we’d be safe by now. In this sense, we have as much responsibility as the players do.