Why do football teams do this to you?
They seize our emotions, capture our hearts..... and build up our hopes.
Crushing defeats, embarrassing failures, relegations. They become almost bearable. Almost. But that Hope...
In the end, it's the Hope That Kills You.
Take our lot.
Cardiff City.
You must have heard of them.
As any schoolboy knows, Cardiff City are the only team to have taken the FA Cup out of England. Overlooking the fact that this occurred back in 1927, Cardiff fans, like many others, believe that we are set apart from ordinary clubs; held aloft by history, former Greats, and simply by being Cardiff City FC. The Greatest Team in Football...
The reality, of course, could scarcely be more different.
For more years than I care to remember, Cardiff City have struggled in the lower depths of League Football. A lifetime's wasted Saturdays watching half remembered teams do battle. Yet, sprinkled amongst these ashes, was always that flicker of hope. A promotion here, a cup run there. Was The Sleeping Giant about to awake...or merely turning in his sleep?
Finally though, after years of sleepless nights, Vincent Tan set the club's alarm for 2013...and we roared into the Premier League. The Promised Land. All our worries were over.
Yeah, right.
That 2013/14 season started well enough. A useful point against Everton, narrow defeat to Spurs and a tub-thumping victory over eventual champions Manchester City. We even crept above Manchester United, as nights in Halifax and Chester became distant memories.
This simply could not last.
Tan's Golden Egg had been laid at enormous cost. The price of fame was...our very soul & identity. The fans' resentment of his rebranding of the club from blue to red consumed the season. Wild behind-the-scenes antics saw a manager sacked and crazy back-room shenanigans. Our Goalie became a Super Hero as Cardiff City plummeted into disarray. Brazilian full backs, Icelandic midfielders and Despair from every town in South Wales. The Cardiff City Stadium became a Torture Chamber. Abandon Hope, All Ye Who Enter Here. But stirring end-of-season trips to West Bromwich and Southampton yielded unlikely success. Suddenly there was a chance. Suddenly there was Ho.......well, y'know.
Every game now seemed a four hour drive away, as the Long & Winding Road took us to the brink. As we always knew it would. And in far off Newcastle & Sunderland, Cardiff City were eventually relegated. The red shirts had not proved lucky. Mr Tan, your dream was over.
Dreamer. You know you are a Dreamer. Ashes to Ashes. A Million Love Songs later...
But, like a jilted wife sticking by an unfaithful husband, we know we can never leave our club. Unlike the players, managers , even the owner, we do not have that luxury of choice.
We are stuck with our lover and will cling to ... the Hope.
Why do football teams do this to you, eh?
David Collins and Gareth Bennett are the authors of The Secret Premier League Diary of a Cardiff City Fan. 2013/14 was Cardiff City’s first season in the top flight for more than fifty years, and they kept a diary every step of the way, recording all the highs and lows. Cardiff City enjoyed victory over the champions, success in the first ever All Wales Premier League derby, and visits to the finest stadiums in the country. But there were oh so many off-the-field misadventures, weren’t there? They were led by a chairman who looked like a Bond villain, running a club torn apart by Red v.Blue. They spent more time on the front pages than the back pages as CCFC became Car Crash Football Club. This is David and Gareth's version of a crazy season.