by rhroyal »
28 May 2008 10:48
OK, it's time for somebody to judge me. I went to my first game against Grimsby in 1996 when I was 6 or 7 (1-1, Morley penalty) and can remember going to about 8 or 9 games at Elm Park altogether. I was something of a lucky charm as some classic victories such as 4-0 against Sunderland, 3-2 against Bolton and a late 1-0 against play-offs Ipswich all took place with me present at a time we were crap, and I only went to about 3 games a season. I kept up the rate of 3-5 games a season once we moved to the Mad Stad, until the 2000-01 season where after Christmas I really got into it and saw more games, including the disappointment in Cardiff. Since then I managed about 15 games a season, that was until recently. I should also add that I moved out of Reading to Essex in 2004 and still kept this rate up. I was there for the awesome 05/06 season (although I was stuck at home with the worst flu ever when we beat Derby 5-0 for the title) but since then things have changed.
I finished school. For the first Premiership season I was there for the 1st half of the season but inflexible work meant I could only make 5 games, and then in January I travelled around India and unsurprisingly failed to make any matches. I did manage to watch the Man U v Reading game at OT on TV at 2am whilst very drunk or some time like that, and I got to watch Spurs v Reading at around 8.30pm in Bangalore, but that's the best I could do. I made 5 games in total that season. Now I'm at Leeds uni and have only managed to make 5 games once again, so in 2 Premiership seasons I have only 10 games. I have a poor away record, I've been to Watford twice and Norwich once but hopefully next season with 2 Sheffield teams, Barnsley and Doncaster I can make a few from Leeds uni when the term time is on. However I don't expect a massive increase in matches, single figures no doubt. I miss it a bit. However my loyalty for earlier years means I have always been able to get tickets whenever I wanted to. Once again in the Premiership I have chosen the right games. I was there for 3-2 v Boro, 1-1 v Man Utd, 3-1 v Spurs and this season 3-1 v Liverpool. Saying that I also saw the games against West Ham and Fulham this season and that entirely forgettable 0-0 with Blackburn (My Dad couldn't make that game so my Leyton Orient mate got his member card and it's the only Premiership game he's ever seen, and it's one of the most dull ones we've ever been involved in.) So, judge me. On a scale of 1 to 10, 1 being proper loyal blue and white blood and 10 being silicon, how plastic am I?