So I'm in a hotel in Manchester...

[BillyStubbsTears]

...flight to Germany at sparrow fart tomorrow. And I'm having a pint in the hotel bar.

A bar that's full of Real Madrid scarves wrapped around people with Spanish accents and Man City scarves wrapped around people with every accent on God's earth...except Manc.

And I get to thinking. I would not swap places with one of them. They could win the final 25-0 and they wouldn't feel more than I felt at Chester, or Stoke or Boston or Wembley. Or laid in the foetal position in my attic listening to the last 30 seconds at Brentford. Or a week on Saturday if we pull off this escape.

f**k the lot of them. They've no idea.

EDIT: Would NOT swap places with them. That typo kinda ruined the effect...

[LincsRover]

...flight to Germany at sparrow fart tomorrow. And I'm having a pint in the hotel bar.

A bar that's full of Real Madrid scarves wrapped around people with Spanish accents and Man City scarves wrapped around people with every accent on God's earth...except Manc.

And I get to thinking. I would swap places with one of them. They could win the final 25-0 and they wouldn't feel more than I felt at Chester, or Stoke or Boston or Wembley. Or laid in the foetal position in my attic listening to the last 30 seconds at Brentford. Or a week on Saturday if we pull off this escape.

f**k the lot of them. They've no idea.

Agreed! RTID! I feel sorry for ghem that they'll never know the roller coaster ride that comes with supporting TLO Donny!!

[roversdude]

One of the best posts in last few weeks

[LongbridgeMGRover]

Nice post BST. I never thought I would see the Rovers at Wembley or be in the old Second Division, this was the stuff of legends that old men talked about.
And I never thought I would see the Rovers out of the football league either, but I did. And I'm glad too that I could share all the highs and lows with a son and daughter, just like my dad shared his love of the Rovers with me.

(And on another note, its strange how many Leicester supporters there are in Birmingham these days!!!)

[roversontheup]

Brilliant post BST. Sums up exactly how I feel about Rovers. My premier league supporting friends always look bemused when I say winning the European Cup wouldn't make me feel half as excited and emotional as winning THAT play off at Stoke.

[drfchound]

A bloke i work with who is the classic (never been to watch them) Man Utd "fan" can't understand why i love being a Rover.
He says he could never follow a team that "flatlined" all the time !!!!
WTF, we never flatline do we ??

[NickDRFC]

I must be the only one who disagrees with large parts of the OP. Maybe it's just me, I think it's a bit arrogant to suggest that someone who supports Man City (for whatever reason) wouldn't feel the same joy and elation that we felt at Stoke, Brentford or when Brian Stock scuffed a 92nd minute equaliser at Mansfield in the 2nd round of the FA Cup, whenever their team does something special. Football is football, and even though you might not have been born into supporting the team it doesn't mean you don't emotionally invest and go through the same turbulence during the ups and downs.

To say say "f*** the lot of them" is pretty rude. Unless they were being dismissive about me supporting Rovers. Which the vast majority of them aren't.

I would never swap supporting the Rovers either. But we're not the only club that has ups and downs. And it doesn't make supporting a team in the Premier League or the Champions League a crime.

[Dutch Uncle]

I think the point is that the bigger the lows you experience, the more you appreciate the highs. A bit like the opposite of the line in Bohemian Rhapsody ..... Little high, little low, doesn't really matter to me

Oh, and supporting a club with strong active links to a more closely knitted community and not one that is actually larger than many countries.

[graingrover]

s the internet will provide more and more free viewing, despite Sky ,I predict that football's golden bubble will burst some day soon Then winds of change will soon blow away the discarded wreckage of these monstrous palace empires . I hope !

[LongbridgeMGRover]

Here in the West Midlands, Villa are on their way to the championship. Some 500 staff will lose their jobs as the club downsizes. Meanwhile the players who have played so badly yet earn more in a week than these staff earn in a year will be talking to their agents and checking their relegation get out clauses.

[NickDRFC]

That, Longbridge, is a travesty. Morons like Jolean Lescott are tweeting pictures of their Aston Martin's and calling relegation a weight off their shoulders, all the while doing sweet FA on the pitch and still topping up their bank balance to the tune of £80k a week. Meanwhile staff earning a fraction of that in the year, and who have been with the club a damn sight longer, will be out on their arses.

If you fined every member of Villa's first team squad a month's wages for their disgraceful performances this year, I reckon you could keep almost 70 staff on for a year. The mind boggles.

(That's assuming the 25 man squad are on an average of £15k a week - probably low balling  if anything - and the club staff are on £25k a year - when a great many will be on less).

[DRFC-Hanksie]

I must be the only one who disagrees with large parts of the OP. Maybe it's just me, I think it's a bit arrogant to suggest that someone who supports Man City (for whatever reason) wouldn't feel the same joy and elation that we felt at Stoke, Brentford or when Brian Stock scuffed a 92nd minute equaliser at Mansfield in the 2nd round of the FA Cup, whenever their team does something special. Football is football, and even though you might not have been born into supporting the team it doesn't mean you don't emotionally invest and go through the same turbulence during the ups and downs.

To say say "f*** the lot of them" is pretty rude. Unless they were being dismissive about me supporting Rovers. Which the vast majority of them aren't.

I would never swap supporting the Rovers either. But we're not the only club that has ups and downs. And it doesn't make supporting a team in the Premier League or the Champions League a crime.

Tell you what I found rude, this ones about a city fan ... i'd started my new job in stockport about 18 month ago, unpacking a few bits on the first day on my desk, rovers cup included. Bloke behind me had a city calendar on his divider board, transpired he was born & bred in Macclesfield.

Anyways, the group of blokes near me started talking about football, was just after the manc derby ironically. So paused for a minute, turned around and had a listen to what they were all saying - as you do.

Mr City fan then says to me 'so, who do you support then?'. I reply 'Doncaster Rovers', to which he replies 'who?'. I replied, 'that team that knocked you out the Carling Cup in 05/06'. He had absolutely no comeback to what i'd just said, so decided to pick my cup up and go for a brew.

[Al4475]

Then there a few - not great in number I admit - who really do give a shit as well! My best man (and I his) is a man city sth and has been since his childhood (from sale originally and now lives in chessie.) He watched city in the third tier and cried when weaver saved that penalty! He also cried when city won the league and was distraught when we hit shit creek! He was overjoyed as much as most rovers fans as I was at stoke and the millenium! He was at wembley with me and bounced around as much as me at the final whistle and is currently hoping and praying we stay up! He watched at bv as we knocked them out of the cc that year and keeps a real close eye on rovers players/staff with city connections! Ross cares about drfc - not to the magnitude that he does city - but he cares nontheless! He's hoping that before we both croak he'll see rovers play city in the prem! They're not all cocks! Lol!

[Chris Black come back]

...flight to Germany at sparrow fart tomorrow. And I'm having a pint in the hotel bar.

A bar that's full of Real Madrid scarves wrapped around people with Spanish accents and Man City scarves wrapped around people with every accent on God's earth...except Manc.

And I get to thinking. I would not swap places with one of them. They could win the final 25-0 and they wouldn't feel more than I felt at Chester, or Stoke or Boston or Wembley. Or laid in the foetal position in my attic listening to the last 30 seconds at Brentford. Or a week on Saturday if we pull off this escape.

f**k the lot of them. They've no idea.

EDIT: Would NOT swap places with them. That typo kinda ruined the effect...

You in The Lowry?

Often get foreign teams staying there if they are at United or City in midweek games.

[The Red Baron]

Man City are probably a rather poor example of Euro-plutocrats. Ok, they are minted now, but go back 20 years and they were a mess. They were probably in the same state that Leeds or Forest have been for the last decade or so.

I'm sure they have acquired plenty of Johnny-come-lately fans along the way, but there must be a lot who remember dropping into the Third Tier and losing at places like Stockport and Bury. The fact that Paul Dickov is still a legend there, largely for what he did to help turn things round, says a lot about them and their recent history.

[BillyStubbsTears]

Nick

A couple of points. I didn't say they couldn't feel as much as us. I said they couldn't feel more. Subtle but important difference.

2) I was musing on the fact that I hadn't heard a Manc accent all night. I may have misjudged them. Maybe they really WERE lifelong Man City fans from all corners of the country and globe. But I'd be surprised. And if there's one kind of football fan I despise it's a pot hunter.

And as for Real Madrid fans, they REALLY haven't got a clue what a tiny success after years of being utter shite feels like!

[PDX_Rover]

Maybe it's just me, I think it's a bit arrogant to suggest that someone who supports Man City (for whatever reason) wouldn't feel the same joy and elation that we felt at Stoke, Brentford

Why would Man City fans feel anything about what we did at Stoke or Brentford?

Yours,

Dave Morris
Weston-Super-Mare

[RobTheRover]

World Championship Pan Fighting?

[Nudga]

Crack cocaine?

[BillyStubbsTears]

Crack cocaine?

Is that where you snort a line out of a cr...


Scrub that. That was last night's dream.

[Colemans Left Hook]

has BST managed how to get thru the revolving doors of his hotel yet  and leave ??

or is he copying bernie ecclestone

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/newstopics/howaboutthat/10434692/Bernie-Ecclestone-has-door-trouble-outside-High-Court.html