In the absence of absurd romance

Ron Waller

No match report from Wednesday night on smbu, I'm afraid. The cross country network of journalists, columnists, polemicists and crackheads, assembled since 1995, failed to produce even one attendee at Adams Park for the League Cup tie with Birmingham City. And I can't say I blame them.

Last season, I would have left work early, and spent between £50-60 at the club. I'd have eaten food I don't particularly like, drunk my least favourite brand of lager, bought a programme I'd never read, enter a draw I've never won. All served up in a room with no windows, and one person behind the bar. But no more. I've been chastised for not allowing the club to act as a commercial entity. I've been mocked for not behaving like a customer, a consumer, a buyer of a product. So I'll try to change. I weighed up whether Tuesday's game would be worth the £50 (ticket, travelling, food, etc), whether that represents good value for a customer, and I decided it wouldn't be. That's how it works isn't it? In the absence of absurd romance, this is how it works.

This is all old hat of course, you'll have heard this sort of po-faced whingeing before but you won't hear it again from me. I've done my moaning, I've repeated myself enough, I've bored the arse off everyone. I don't suppose I'm the only Wycombe fan who is struggling to put into words why they feel quite so unenthusiastic about the start of this season - you probably know a couple yourself. There's plenty of others still going through the motions, but for me, the only way to articulate it properly at the moment is simply by not going.

15.08.2008. 10:53

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