Why do once avid supporters drift away? I went in search of five former matchgoing fans to find out
By Donald Walker for Nutmeg magazine
What becomes of the broken-hearted? Or perhaps more to the point, what becomes of the scunnered, the disillusioned and the bored? For many of us bitten by the football bug, it’s often a lifelong condition, almost like a kind of malaria: manageable but prone to sudden, intense flare-ups, and impossible to cure.
But sometimes diehard supporters stop going to matches after years or even decades of faithful attendances. Why? Death is an obvious reason, or having to work on a Saturday, increased family responsibilities, poor health, the cost of living, moving away from the area, taking up a competing pursuit, falling out with friends, taking the huff with the club directors, or quite simply becoming fed up with football.
It’s Saturday and the sun is shining
Perhaps a visit to RSS Discovery
A step back in time, into history
Yet I’m not happy
You almost feel that Captain Scott is standing there
But he’s not the Robert Scott I long to see.
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